NOVPUB"How many lamp-lighting officers are there in the Donghuang Domain?"
"Several millions."
Upon hearing these words, the corners of Shen Yuan’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch slightly.
Handing over spirit stones to the City God Temple to become a lamp-lighting officer, and then traveling to complete tasks to accumulate merit—just for the chance to be one of the three selected from a million every ten years to become a local deity.
This tactic of dangling a carrot to entice the donkey had a distinct flavor of a capitalist sucking the marrow from bones.
Sensing Shen Yuan’s surprise, Miao Yu quickly added:
"Immortal Master might not know, although it’s only every ten years that three people are selected to be consecrated as local deities, even the ordinary lamp-lighting officers have the opportunity, after accumulating enough merit, to become a yin official of the City God Temple."
The yin officials created from lamp-lighting officers are only so in name, and are not included in the Netherworld’s register; the only benefit is that after their death, they can maintain their yin spirit under the protection of the City God Temple.
Given a longer lifespan than ordinary cultivators, they have more opportunities to accumulate merit, vastly increasing the probability of ultimately becoming a local deity!"
Hearing this, Shen Yuan subconsciously paused his steps.
Capitalists, after all, only suck marrow from bones in life, but the Donghuang Divine System makes the lamp-lighting officers work for them even after death.
That yin official existence without a spot in the Netherworld’s register made Shen Yuan feel like they were nothing more than temporary laborers.
Miao Yu, naturally unaware of Shen Yuan’s thoughts, was happily counting on his fingers:
"I’m sixteen this year and have already saved up more than thirty spirit stones, just short of sixty more to complete a hundred.
Looking at it this way, I have high hopes of becoming a lamp-lighting officer before I turn thirty, and then perhaps I could even compete for a position among the deities."
There was a silent moment in Shen Yuan’s heart before he casually said:
"What you lack is not spirit stones."
"What is it then?"
"Street lamps."
After making a snide remark, Shen Yuan did not unveil the true nature behind these schemes to Miao Yu.
As of now, Miao Yu wasn’t even a cultivator, and revealing the truth to him would be meaningless.
For someone like him, a commoner, false hope is much easier to accept than the truth.
While Miao Yu narrated the local customs and culture of the Donghuang Domain, Shen Yuan had arrived in front of a brokerage.
Within the brokerage, two cultivators at the Essence Refining Stage rose to greet Shen Yuan as he entered.
"Does the senior have any needs that brought him to our place?"
There was a large notice board in front of the brokerage, laden with placards for selling residences, detailing location information of the properties.
Comparing locations within Luoyu City, Shen Yuan waved his right hand lightly, and a wooden placard fell into his hand.
"This residence, I’ll take it."
...
Shen Yuan purchased a secluded courtyard in the city for three hundred spirit stones, rejected the broker’s attempt to sell him servants, and closed the courtyard gates.
Surveying the environment that was quite similar to the Courtyard Secret Realm, Shen Yuan nodded in satisfaction.
Having suffered injury from that spatiotemporal disturbance not long ago, which caused his mana to be chaotic and still unresolved, Shen Yuan bought this courtyard with the intention of cultivating in seclusion to calm the mana disorder and restore his peak strength.
After all, the Primal Chaos Realm from thousands of years ago was not exactly a comfortable place for Shen Yuan.
The Upper World Heavenly Court still existed, and if he rashly used the Gods Purging Divine Power, it might attract the scrutiny of the Heavenly Court.
Within the Human Emperor Dynasty, the Great Yin’s Mortal Emperor was a full-status emperor, wielding human path trends far beyond what later emperors could, and any use of human path trends by Shen Yuan would surely alert the Great Yin’s Mortal Emperor.
Regarding the Netherworld, it remained intact thousands of years ago, with the yin officials yet to emerge, meaning Shen Yuan couldn’t manipulate the will of Emperor Fengdu’s incorporeal persona.
With the three biggest trump cards limited and his own heavy injuries affecting his cultivation level, this was far from good news for Shen Yuan.
Only by restoring his peak cultivation and then making a determined effort to break through the Divinity Transformation Realm to become a Spirit Refining True Being could he have the capability to protect himself in the Primal Chaos Realm of thousands of years ago.
And this was precisely Shen Yuan’s purpose in traversing the thousands of years of time.
Thus thinking, Shen Yuan stretched his index finger into the void, casually sketching a protective formation over the entire courtyard on a concealed spatial layer.
Afterward, Shen Yuan returned to his room and began to sit in meditation, stabilizing his chaotic mana.
...
Days passed in a flash, and the news of the celestial phenomenon that occurred in the wilderness outside Luoyu City had spread throughout the cities within a thousand miles. Even the influential figures within Huayu County cast their gaze over this area.
In the skies above the barren mountain, no fewer than seven surges of Spirit Transmutation cultivator’s auras enveloped the entire hill, while beneath them, over a thousand cultivators searched every inch of the mountain’s land.
The seven Spirit Transmutation cultivators from different cities had somber expressions, their cold gazes sweeping over all the cultivators below to prevent them from secretly hoarding any findings.
This search had already continued for a full five days.
During these five days, people found many high-age Class 2 and Class 3 Spiritual Medicines on this barren mountain, as well as some precious ores tinged with the aura of time.
But beyond that, there was nothing else.
In truth, judging solely by those Spiritual Medicines and ores, the group had already reaped considerable rewards. Yet compared to the spatial collapse that affected a ten-mile radius on that day, and the extremely terrifying temporal turbulence, these items were utterly insignificant.
The seven present Spirit Transmutation cultivators were certain that the source of that temporal turbulence must be an extremely precious Time Exotic Treasure, its grade likely that of a spirit treasure, and they did not exclude the possibility of an even higher-caliber Taoist artifact.
Such treasures were beyond their right to possess, and even the Huayu Mountain God, who presided over Huayu County, did not have the privilege.
Offering the treasure either to the dignitaries of the Great Yin Imperial Dynasty or to Donghuang Divine Monarch would yield unimaginable benefits.
Yet now, having searched the entire barren mountain to no avail, the few Spirit Transmutation cultivators present could not help but grow impatient.
"Why is there nothing?"
"A celestial phenomenon of this magnitude is bound to produce an exotic treasure."
"Could it be that such a phenomenon was created by a powerful expert’s Divine Skills?"
A great Spirit Transmutation cultivator spoke up, and immediately, the others’ eyes converged on him, their gazes filled with scorn.
Another great Spirit Transmutation cultivator criticized without mercy:
"Fool! The status of time-related Divine Skills is so high they are rarely seen in all realms, and the use of such Divine Skills is accompanied by karmic backlash.
The consequences of such a wide-ranging temporal turbulence could curse and kill a True Monarch, and even a True Immortal would be injured.
Do you really think an Immortal would harm themselves just to clear a barren mountain?"
Another voice suddenly spoke up.
"What if someone took the Time Exotic Treasure away?"
As soon as this guess was voiced, it immediately sent the present Spirit Transmutation cultivators into contemplation.
At that moment, a Qi-training cultivator flew into the sky below, while mana supported three dead bodies behind him.
"Reporting to the lords of the cities, we have discovered these three bodies in a forest outside the mountain where the phenomenon occurred.
Upon investigation, these three bodies belong to individuals from a small cultivation family in Luoyu City. It was seen that they headed to this place on the day the phenomenon appeared, but they ultimately fell along the way."
The Luoyu City Lord frowned and said coldly, "I know."
Although the emergence of a phenomenon signifies opportunity, it also hides danger.
Especially on the first day, many cultivators fought and killed each other over the Spiritual Medicines, with numerous casualties; these mere three Qi Transformation cultivators were hardly worth mentioning.
Hearing this, the Qi-training cultivator was about to retreat, but just then another great Spirit Transmutation cultivator suddenly spoke:
"Wait a moment."
All eyes turned to him, and they saw that great Spirit Transmutation cultivator approaching the three corpses, his eyes flickering with a sharp light as he observed the traces of Primordial Elemental Qi left on them.
He formed a spell with his hands, and from his bosom, a circular mirror magical treasure appeared, transforming into a beam of light that enveloped the three bodies.
Under the lingering presence of dissipating Primordial Elemental Qi, a trace of the aura of time appeared before everyone.
"Why would there be an aura of time on their bodies?"
"They were intercepted and killed on their way to the site of the phenomenon, and there’s a remnant aura of time on their bodies. Could it be that the one who killed them is the person who took the Time Exotic Treasure?"
The many Spirit Transmutation cultivators showed a look of pleasant surprise and immediately dispatched their subordinates to gather relevant information.
A quarter of an hour later, several great Spirit Transmutation cultivators rode their Flight of Light, heading in the direction of Luoyu City.
