Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil in the Cultivation World

Chapter 1351: Chapter 624: The Primordial Talisman Sect’s Honored Guest Elder System and the City Lord Assessment Arms Race (Part 2)

“This.”

Tang Zirui raised his brows slightly. He truly hadn’t expected the City Lord’s Mansion to be this extravagant. From this alone, one could see that the Primordial Talisman Sect’s wealth in this era was anything but ordinary.

As expected of the dominant Sect of this age, monopolizing the vast majority of benefits.

This also allowed the Primordial Talisman Sect to obtain endless cultivation resources, as well as rare resources from the Void Realm.

However, he said nothing, merely observing in silence.

After stepping through the mansion gate, the first thing that rushed toward him was Spiritual Qi so dense it was almost tangible, several times richer than anywhere else in the city. It was so thick it condensed into a pale, misty veil that coiled in every corner of the courtyard. With a single breath, he felt Spiritual Power race along his meridians; the Spiritual Power in his Dantian stirred restlessly, and even the sluggishness of his meridians was slowly being nourished.

The ground was paved with warm jade, its surface engraved with fine Gathering Spirit Runes. The lines were as thin as strands of hair, glowing a deep blue, linked directly to the Spirit Vein beneath the earth, continuously drawing on its power and locking the Spiritual Qi within the mansion. Even if the gates remained shut all year, not a wisp of Spiritual Qi would leak out.

On both sides of the courtyard were neatly arranged Spirit Plant gardens, planted with thousand-year Spirit Orchid, thousand-year Youthful Ganoderma, Condensed Dew Immortal Grass, and other high-tier Spirit Plants. On every leaf, crystalline Spiritual Dew had gathered, faint Spiritual Light coiled between the leaves, and at the root of each plant was inscribed a tiny Nourishing Rune, emitting a faint crimson glow, slowly channeling Spiritual Power into the plant. Because of this, even without cultivators deliberately tending them, these Spirit Plants grew luxuriantly, exuding rich medicinal fragrance and Spiritual Qi that intertwined with the Spiritual Light of the mansion’s runes, making the place all the more serene and mysterious.

After walking more than a hundred steps forward, they arrived at the main hall of the City Lord’s Mansion—the Julu Hall. The hall body was built from mysterious crystal-gold bricks, towering fifty zhang high. The roof was covered with glazed tiles imbued with Spiritual Light, their surfaces engraved with runes of a sky full of stars. By day they absorbed sunlight and Spiritual Qi; by night, fine starlight would light up, echoing the stars in the heavens.

There were twelve hall pillars in total, and every pillar was carved with a complete Mansion-Guarding Rune. The rune patterns were ancient and difficult to discern, like Dao yet like Law, like Heaven yet like Earth. Their color shifted from a deep blue at the base to a dark gold at the top, a faint halo of Spiritual Power lingering around each pillar. The twelve pillars resonated with one another, forming a concealed Gathering Spirit and Suppressing Evil Grand Array, able both to draw in Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and to suppress all evil within the mansion, guarding the peace of the City Lord’s Mansion.

“Senior Tang, please sit.”

City Lord Zhang Hui smiled faintly.

Now, in a Quiet Chamber within the palace, only he and Tang Zirui remained.

This place was just right for a private conversation between the two.

“I did not expect your City Lord’s Mansion to be so luxurious.”

Tang Zirui raised his brows.

“Sigh, it’s merely that the Sect is wealthy; it doesn’t have much to do with me.”

City Lord Zhang Hui waved his hand.

He was only temporarily living here; he was not the true master of this city.

Once his term ended, he could step down at any time.

And the master of this City Lord’s Mansion would also change, so he was nothing more than a tenant.

“Daoist Friend Zhang, why are you being so courteous? And why must you insist that I become an Honored Guest Elder of the Sect?”

“What exactly is your purpose?”

Tang Zirui asked.

He did not wish to beat around the bush; that would only be a waste of time.

To be frank, he had many trump cards on him.

Even if the other party intended him harm, he could still retreat with ease.

“Senior truly speaks straightforwardly. In fact, this has to do with my assessment.”

“To tell the truth, people like us who serve as City Lords are far from carefree.”

“Though we do indeed gain quite a few benefits each year, every ten years we must undergo an assessment.”

“The assessment criteria are multi-dimensional—such as city security, crime rate, population growth, cultivator growth, economic growth, and so on. Only if we meet the standards can we continue to serve; otherwise, we will be eliminated.”

“So every one of us City Lords is cautious and conscientious, treading on thin ice year after year.”

“A slight misstep, and we’ll be weeded out.”

Zhang Hui spoke with clear helplessness.

After all, becoming a City Lord under the Primordial Talisman Sect was no easy matter.

The assessment every ten years brought immense pressure. If one failed, one would be eliminated by the Sect.

One had to know that within the Sect, countless cultivators were eyeing the position of City Lord like hungry wolves.

If he wished to sit firmly in this seat, he had to produce results; otherwise, other cultivators would replace him.

Of course, such healthy competition had also caused the major cities across the Southern Continent to flourish. Their populations and territories continuously expanded, which in turn led to the thriving prosperity of the Primordial Talisman Sect.

From a certain perspective, this brought great benefit to the Primordial Talisman Sect.

Otherwise, if everyone intended to lie flat, it would be extremely detrimental to the Sect’s development.

That would nurture a whole swarm of parasites.

“So that’s how it is.”

Tang Zirui suddenly understood. The Primordial Talisman Sect now controlled countless cities, and many Sect Disciples had become City Lords of these cities, each one a regional authority figure with high status and great power.

But correspondingly, this also set very high demands for each City Lord.

If under a City Lord’s governance the city failed to progress and instead regressed, then not only would he be stripped of his position, he might also be punished.

Even if he met the basic governance requirements, if he failed to achieve an “excellent” evaluation, then his prospects for promotion in this lifetime would be hopeless.

Therefore, to pass the once-in-ten-years assessment, and to receive an excellent rating each time, every City Lord exhausted every means, using all sorts of methods to achieve their goals.

Moreover, falsifying results was basically impossible.

Because every city was inscribed with a Cave-Heaven Eye Talisman.

Such Immortal Realm Spirit Talismans could not only protect the city’s safety and inspect visiting cultivators.

They had an even more important function—that was, to monitor all activity within the city.

In other words, everything that had happened in these cities was already thoroughly recorded by the Cave-Heaven Eye Talismans.

If someone truly intended to falsify things, then by simply examining the surveillance records of the Cave-Heaven Eye Talismans, everything could be easily uncovered, without the slightest omission.

Thus, the City Lords of the various cities could only develop their cities in earnest and let their political achievements speak for themselves.

“Immortal Realm Spirit Talismans are indeed boundlessly profound; I did not expect they could even be used in administration.”

“The Primordial Talisman Sect of this era truly contains limitless potential.”

Tang Zirui was inwardly filled with amazement.

For even in the Ancient Era, he had never seen such a thing.

After all, in that era, no cultivator had been able to refine a Cave-Heaven Eye Talisman.

Such Immortal Realm Spirit Talismans were not things that could be refined casually.

Even if one were refined, it would be impossible to have them everywhere; they would definitely only be used in truly critical places.

There was no way an ordinary city could casually employ an Immortal Realm Spirit Talisman.

Because refining Talismans also had a success rate.

The higher the tier of the Talisman, the lower the success rate.

Cultivators like Jiang Fan, with a one hundred percent success rate in Talisman Making, were basically unprecedented and unmatched.

As if once proven, forever proven.

It was precisely because of this that the Primordial Talisman Sect could use so many Immortal Realm Spirit Talismans.

“If that’s the case, what is it you intend for me to do?”

Tang Zirui asked.

“Senior, in truth, Julu City’s development is quite good.”

“Whether in terms of population growth or economic growth, we rank among the top.”

“The only shortcoming now lies in public security.”

“Of course, not the security within the city, but outside the city.”

“Due to the Spiritual Energy Revival, the Demon Beasts in the wild have been growing at an extremely rapid pace, and their breeding speed is frightening.”

“If they are not culled at intervals, vast numbers of Demon Beasts will gather and form a beast tide.”

“In a nearby mountain range, two or three Void Refining Beasts have already been born.”

“If they are not dealt with swiftly, they will give rise to a massive beast tide.”

“So I hope Senior can take action.”

“Otherwise, if the Sect learns of this matter, it will certainly lower Julu City’s public security rating.”

“Though the rating might still be considered passing, it would have nothing to do with excellence, and this would cut off my path of promotion.”

“If Senior is willing to lend a hand, I will surely offer heavy rewards.”

Zhang Hui spoke with great sincerity.

He wished to borrow Tang Zirui’s strength to resolve the threat of the beast tide.

“Don’t you have some Immortal Realm Spirit Talismans on you?”

“Those should also be enough to deal with those Void Refining Demon Beasts.”

Tang Zirui asked curiously.

“I do indeed have Immortal Realm Spirit Talismans bestowed by the Sect.”

“The problem is, these are my trump cards; I cannot use them lightly.”

“If Senior is willing to help, then that would naturally be best; it would allow me to preserve my trump cards.”

“But if you are unwilling, then I can only be forced to use them.”

Zhang Hui explained.

Clearly, it was precisely because he did not wish to expend his own trump cards that he hoped the Sect’s Honored Guest Elder would take action.

Only then could the benefits be maximized.