After Zhao Qing and Feng Miao left, Wang Ping thought for a moment before heading to the back mountain to see Yu Cheng Taoist.
After listening to Wang Ping's explanation, Yu Cheng Taoist gazed at him with a smile. "You want to go and take a look, too?" he asked.
"Yes!" Wang Ping admitted, offering no reason.
Yu Cheng Taoist said, "That makes sense. After eight years of ascetic training, it's natural to crave action after so much stillness. It is time for you to go out and gain some experience. Besides, the Qi Cultivators from the True Yang Sect who are out gaining experience are usually the sect's most talented disciples. Befriending her would be of great benefit to your future cultivation... You've focused mainly on cultivating your Qi on the mountain, so you're still a bit lacking in combat techniques. How are you progressing with the Qi Cultivation Skills I gave you?"
His thoughts laid bare, Wang Ping lowered his head. "I picked a few of the more interesting ones to learn," he replied.
"Which ones did you learn?"
"The Sword Control Technique, Invisibility Technique, and Water Covering Technique. I can use them at will, but I still haven't gotten the hang of the Cloud Soaring Technique," Wang Ping answered truthfully. The Magic Book Yu Cheng Taoist had given him contained over a hundred spells, compiled by countless Qi Cultivators over the ages.
With the aid of his status panel, learning these spells was incredibly easy for Wang Ping.
"Not bad..." Yu Cheng Taoist nodded in satisfaction. "With these spells at your disposal, you should be fine as long as you don't run into a Core Formation demon... However, you'll also need a proper identity when you're out in the world. Our Qianmu Temple still holds a seat among the Sixth Seats of the Daoist Scripture Hall. I heard that two positions just opened up last month. It wouldn't be unreasonable for you to take one."
The Daoist Scripture Hall was the Mystic Sect Alliance. It had no single leader; instead, benefits were allocated among the various sects through six tiers of seats. The First Seat was naturally the most prestigious, with a total of only 7 positions. The Second Seat had 17 members, the Third Seat jumped to 101, the Fourth had 231, the Fifth had 561, and the Sixth had 1221.
Ever since these six tiers were established, only the Fifth and Sixth Seats had ever been filled to capacity; the higher tiers always had vacancies. Decades ago, Qianmu Temple held a Third Seat, but after its power declined significantly, it only managed to retain Yu Cheng Taoist's position as a Fourth Seat. As compensation, however, the Daoist Scripture Hall granted Qianmu Temple the right to manage Shang'an Prefecture and spread its teachings there.
Beyond the six tiers of seats were hundreds of thousands of ordinary Mystic Sect Qi Cultivators, and Wang Ping was currently one of them. The identity token he used for travel was issued by the Daoist Scripture Hall.
The most important responsibility of a Sixth Seat was the right to vote in the elections for all the seats from the Fifth to the First. Thus, while the position seemed minor, it was one where a single action could affect the entire structure.
With power came responsibility. Holding a Sixth Seat required participation in the Daoist Scripture Hall's major operations, but such events were rarer than once a century. There were no other mandatory duties in normal times, but it was required that the seat holder's disciples join the Daoist Scripture Hall.
"Yes, sir!"
Wang Ping didn't hesitate. 'Knowing Master,' he thought, 'arranging for me to enter the Daoist Scripture Hall isn't just about giving me a convenient identity for this one matter.'
"Go back and get ready. You'll come with me to the Prefecture City right now to get this sorted out."
"Yes, sir!"
…
「Shang'an Prefecture.」
It was a massive port city. More than half of the maritime trade between the Southwest Region of the Xia Country and the southeastern islands passed through the port of Shang'an Prefecture City.
One could only imagine how wealthy the Prefecture City was. Countless people were envious and jealous that Qianmu Temple had obtained such a lucrative territory. This also indirectly proved that Yu Cheng Taoist was at least a Second Realm Secret Technique Cultivator.
「Daoist Scripture Hall.」
Wang Ping had read of its name in many books, which made him feel an involuntary sense of awe. That was why he had been so cautious regarding the Daoist Scripture Hall during his last trip.
The Daoist Scripture Hall's branch in Shang'an Prefecture was just a small liaison station. From the outside, it resembled an Observation Pavilion.
The procedure for acquiring a Sixth Seat was surprisingly simple. It was just a matter of swapping his old wooden token for a new jade one. There was no fabled blood-drop authentication, but the jade token contained a true projection of Wang Ping, making it impossible for others to forge.
Walking out of the Daoist Scripture Hall with his new identity token, Wang Ping felt a sense of unreality. 'I feel just like one of those lucky disciples from the novels of my past life,' he thought, 'the ones who can get anything just by reaching out their hand.'
Only Wang Ping emerged; Yu Cheng Taoist had remained inside the Daoist Scripture Hall to attend to some matters.
"I smell shrimp," Yu Lian's voice suddenly rang out in Wang Ping's Spirit Sea.
"Don't you not need to eat?"
"But I want to!"
"..."
Wang Ping sighed in resignation. He put the identity token back into his storage pouch, glanced back at the deceptively simple liaison point for the Daoist Scripture Hall, and took a deep breath before walking toward a distant vendor selling live shrimp.
'I'm still just a minor Qi Cultivator,' he thought. 'The only thing I can do is train diligently so that I can one day be of help to my master, instead of standing here feeling guilty and letting my imagination run wild.'
After satisfying Yu Lian, Wang Ping headed for the city gate, intending to go directly to Shu County and rendezvous with Feng Miao and the others. He had expected to arrive in Shu County and find a large-scale assembly of the mountain search party.
But in reality... all he found were Feng Miao and the others, sighing.
"What happened?"
Wang Ping found Feng Miao and the two companions she had mentioned at the arranged meeting place—a teahouse in Shu County near the city gate. Noticing Zhao Qing was absent, he hurriedly asked what was going on.
Feng Miao's two companions were a female cultivator in a cyan Daoist robe and a man dressed in the black martial attire of a Jianghu Traveler. The female cultivator, Xia Yao, was from Lishui Prefecture. The "Jianghu Traveler" was a Loose Cultivator named Zuo Sizi.
The three of them had been teaming up to take on missions for the past year, hoping to accumulate enough merit with the Daoist Scripture Hall to exchange for Foundation Establishment Materials.
"The County Magistrate's Office rejected our proposal to search the mountain."
The female cultivator, Xia Yao, answered Wang Ping's question. "They said that many parts of the county were hit by typhoons during the summer. Now that it's the agricultural off-season, they're conscripting laborers for repairs and can't spare any men to search the mountain. Not unless... we can produce concrete evidence proving there really are packs of demons in the northern forests."
She finished, then added, "Daoist Zhao said he was going to the Prefecture City to request an official document..."
"The Prefect's document might be useful in Shang'an Prefecture, but this is Sanhe Prefecture. They might pay lip service to your Qianmu Temple, but in reality, they've already figured out how to stonewall us."
Zuo Sizi had a more pragmatic view. "Why don't we just drop it? I bet the Snake Demon we're looking for escaped from the other side of the mountains long ago."
"No! There's clearly something wrong here. We could have turned a blind eye if we hadn't found anything, but now that we have, we can't just ignore it!" Feng Miao slammed her hand on the table, reverting to the fiery person Wang Ping had first met. Zuo Sizi rolled his eyes at her outburst, while Xia Yao remained in calm contemplation.
Wang Ping asked, "Did you report it?"
"We reported it before we went to find you," Feng Miao said, meeting Wang Ping's gaze. "But since there have been no reported cases of demons harming people in Shu County, and searching the mountain is considered a local matter, the Daoist Scripture Hall is reluctant to intervene forcefully. Unless... unless something happens like what occurred in Yuanning County."
"Frame someone?" Zuo Sizi asked instinctively.
"Could you try thinking of a normal solution for once? I'm talking about secretly investigating the situation inside the County Magistrate's Office!" Feng Miao shot back. 'Their relationship must be pretty good,' Wang Ping mused.
Hearing Feng Miao's words, Wang Ping immediately thought of the Secret Technique Cultivator from Yuanning County, and a jolt of alarm went through him.
'But then again,' he thought, 'even if a Secret Technique Cultivator is involved, they most likely wouldn't make a move over something this minor. By any calculation, the risk wouldn't be worth the reward.'
「Two days later.」
Feng Miao's investigation had made no progress. However, Zhao Qing returned from the Prefecture City bearing a letter handwritten by the Prefect himself, ordering the Shucheng County Magistrate's Office to cooperate with Feng Miao and her group.
The Shucheng County Magistrate was a man in his sixties. After reading the Prefect's letter, he exchanged a glance with the other County Magistrate and said, "Since it is an order from the Lord Prefect, I shall naturally comply. Daoists, please rest and refresh yourselves. I will immediately issue orders to the various townships and villages to conscript the necessary men."
Just as Zuo Sizi had expected, the County Magistrate was perfectly coordinating with the Prefecture City, using stalling tactics.
Zhao Qing immediately cupped his fists. "Your Excellency, we have our own people. We only need you to issue an official permit to search the mountain!"
The County Magistrate feigned a moment of deep thought, then said with an air of reluctance, "This... is not in accordance with the laws of the Court. I would like to help, but the Court's laws are immutable. How about this? If Daoist Zhao can procure another document from the Prefecture City, then I can consider it..."