Day had just broken when Jiang Zuo's phone rang. He glanced at it and froze.
It was from Su Qi.
Su Qi: I'll be back in a couple of days.
Staring at Su Qi's message, Jiang Zuo felt a little dazed. In the end, he just quietly sent back an "Okay."
'In the past, I would have ignored this, or maybe questioned her directly, right?'
'Then again, I don't think I ever got a text from Su Qi in my previous life. What went wrong this time?'
Without giving it much more thought, Jiang Zuo headed out.
The Innate Two Qi was constantly coursing through his body, unceasingly absorbing the surrounding Spiritual Qi. This was the absolute advantage of the Innate Chaotic Qi.
Namely, passive Cultivation.
The Innate Chaotic Qi was both a method of Cultivation and a Cultivation Technique in itself—one that led directly to the Great Dao.
It would be enough for him to cultivate for a lifetime.
The beginning of Cultivation is Spirit Transformation, and Spirit Transformation can open the Seven Chakras.
A person has a central channel, which is divided into the Seven Chakras. A Tier One Spirit Transformation can open one chakra. Each chakra represents a Great Realm. Once all Seven Chakras are open, one has taken the first step on the Great Dao.
The moment Jiang Zuo obtained the Innate Two Qi, he had already stepped into Tier One of Spirit Transformation. At this point, he was no longer an ordinary person.
Spirit Transformation brought about a qualitative change; his physical constitution was already on a completely different level.
If he had to quantify it, he was currently at the first stage of Tier One. His strength was about four times what it used to be, and a single punch could deliver around five hundred jin of force.
Each Tier has seven stages, and these seven stages are considered minor realms.
Before long, Jiang Zuo arrived at the Tianhe Group.
He needed to accept a commission. It would be best if one for a Moon Tear Bead was available, but if not, a mission involving Five Elements Power would also do.
Right now, he wanted to collect Five Elements Power. While it might not be enough to advance to the Three Qi, it could still be used to strengthen his Two Qi.
There were no concrete rules for strengthening the Innate Qi. Any increase in its 'stripping speed' was entirely a matter of luck.
In any case, accumulation was crucial. If all else failed, he could convert it into his own Cultivation.
Soon, Jiang Zuo arrived at the Marketing Department 2. There were quite a few people there at this time.
Everyone was staring at their computers, so Jiang Zuo's arrival didn't attract any attention.
He found his desk, turned on his computer, and looked for commissions.
The commission page opened on startup, but Jiang Zuo took one look and was baffled. There wasn't a single commission listed.
Jiang Zuo got up and glanced at the others. They all seemed engrossed in their work.
'They couldn't all be colluding to fool me, could they?'
With no other choice, Jiang Zuo took out his phone. He was starting to see the use of being in that group chat.
Po Xiao: Quick question. How come everyone else is so engrossed in the commissions, but I can't see any?
Blade Master Hai Bian replied immediately: "Fellow Daoist Po Xiao, have you verified your Cultivation? Most commissions have a Cultivation requirement. Yesterday's was a rush job that I transferred to you, so you didn't need to go through the official procedure."
Po Xiao: How do I verify my Cultivation, then? Is it a high bar?
Blade Master Hai Bian asked: "Fellow Daoist Po Xiao, what's your approximate Cultivation Realm?"
Po Xiao: Tier One, first stage.
Chen Yi sent a surprised emoji: "Brother Zuo is only a 1.1? Then how did you knock out Liu Yu?"
Liu Yu was Perception No. 1, the guy who had tried to use his strongest Hypnosis on Jiang Zuo.
Po Xiao sent two words: "Too weak."
'Jiang Zuo was actually quite surprised. They abbreviated 'Tier One, first stage' to just '1.1'. Wasn't that a bit too informal?'
'But when in Rome... 1.1 it is.'
At this point, Liu Yiyi sent a horrified emoji: "I thought Liu Yu was a 1.3? A 1.3 lost to a 1.1? What have they been feeding him?"
Blade Master Hai Bian: "That's perfectly normal. It's only a 0.2 difference, not a gap between major Tiers. At Tier One, skill is what's important. But back to the topic, since Fellow Daoist Po Xiao has a 1.1 Cultivation, you can go get it verified. Your profile will update, and then you'll be able to see the commissions."
Chen Yi added, "The Assessment Department. It's behind the Perception Department, just follow the path."
After a quick thanks, Jiang Zuo turned and left the Marketing Department 2.
He soon arrived at the Assessment Department. The door was open, revealing a large training hall inside.
It was surrounded by Barriers and looked like it could take a lot of punishment.
There was a front desk by the main entrance. Jiang Zuo walked over and asked, "Is this where Cultivation assessments are done?"
The receptionist was a young woman. She gave Jiang Zuo a glance and said, "Work ID."
Jiang Zuo handed his work ID to the receptionist.
"What's your Cultivation Realm? You'd better be honest. We're not responsible for any accidents during the assessment if you lie."
Jiang Zuo thought for a moment. "1.1."
The receptionist glanced at him again. 'He needed to hesitate over a 1.1?' she thought.
She didn't say anything more, though. She just handed the work ID back to Jiang Zuo. "Room number three, in the back. Go on in and wait."
Taking back his ID, Jiang Zuo headed to the back. When he reached Room 3, he found there were quite a few people inside.
This was a smaller training hall. Four or five people were standing off to one side, while two men were in the center of the hall.
One was a middle-aged examiner, and the other was an employee undergoing the assessment.
Jiang Zuo went to stand with the group of four or five and watched the training hall floor.
They had just started.
Just then, Jiang Zuo felt someone tap his arm. He turned to see a young man.
"Hey man, I'm from Logistics. What department are you in?" the young man asked.
Jiang Zuo glanced at his work ID. Xia Yue.
"Marketing."
"What Realm are you testing for? I'm here for 1.3. For Logistics, that's considered pretty good."
"1.1."
"Oh, 1.1 is an easy pass. A few casual moves and you're done. They test your actual combat skills later, though. They say if you reach a certain level but it's all for show, the company won't recognize it."
Jiang Zuo didn't respond. The fight in the training hall had already begun. He could tell at a glance that the person being assessed was also a 1.3, but his skills seemed mediocre.
The examiner kept shaking his head, then knocked the man down with a single move. "Fail. At your level, I wouldn't even have to suppress my own Realm to 1.3. I could beat you as a 1.2."
The man looked utterly dejected as he left Room 3.
Xia Yue sighed. "Man, even getting a recognized Realm is tough. And it's all just for a pay raise."
Jiang Zuo was surprised. "The salaries here are high?"
"They're okay," Xia Yue said after a moment's thought. "Take us in Logistics, for example. A 1.2 Realm gets you an extra 2,000 in allowance, and a 1.3 gets you 3,000. And that's considered low. If you're in the Perception Department or the Tech Department, it's even more ridiculous."
"What about Marketing?"
"Your base salary is atrocious, but you guys don't live off your base pay anyway. You increase your Cultivation just to be able to take on commissions. In that sense, you have a much higher need for a good Cultivation Realm." Xia Yue paused, surprised. "You didn't know any of this?"
Jiang Zuo nodded. 'So even Cultivators need to eat and earn a living,' he thought, then said casually, "I'm new here."
"..."
By now, most of the people ahead of Jiang Zuo had finished their assessments. Not many of them passed.
Every one of them was clearly resentful.
Xia Yue said, "My turn."
Xia Yue was actually pretty decent. He lasted quite a while against the middle-aged examiner before finally being taken down.
"A barely passing grade, but still trash. Isn't there a single impressive one among you? What a disappointment."
Despite being insulted, Xia Yue was still overjoyed.
He walked back over to Jiang Zuo. "You're up. Since we've met, I might as well stay and watch till the end."
Jiang Zuo just smiled without a word.
Then, he stepped into the training hall.
"Po Xiao? A 1.1?" The examiner sneered. "Tch. Nothing but useless people lately. Even a 1.1 dares to take a Daoist title."