Lu Zheng had no idea that Daoist Mingzhang had to go to the Scripture Hall every three days to act as a team leader, because he had already returned to Tonglin County.
However, Si Lingxi and Liu Qingyan’s family had not co back; the only one who had returned was Shen Ying.
...
A bout of clouds and rain, ghostly charms and languid allure.
...
Once proper business was done, they could move on to so idle chatter.
"So how was this City God Conference?" Lu Zheng asked, holding Shen Ying in his arms.
Shen Ying smiled at his words. "I heard it wasn’t much different from usual.
I first went to find General Xin, then went with General Xin to Yizhou Prefecture to find Lord Lu, and only after that did we go together to the Yanzhou Dao City God Temple."
The Yizhou Prefecture City God’s na was Lu Yuxing. In life he had been a Dao Governor-Inspector, an upright and capable official. After death he was granted the title of Yizhou City God by the Court, enjoying the Incense of an entire State, cultivating the Incense and Candle Divine Dao.
Lu Zheng had once heard Xin Zhanting ntion him in passing. Don’t look at how rough and careless Xin seed normally; he was very respectful toward this Lord Lu.
"Still one of my own clan," Lu Zheng said with a smile.
"Lord Lu said he often hears Lord Chu ntion you, it’s just a pity he never had the chance to et you." Shen Ying’s lips curved. "When he saw this ti, he specifically asked to pass a ssage to you: you’re welco to visit him anyti."
Lu Zheng nodded. "Next ti I go to Yizhou Prefecture, I’ll pay him a visit."
Lu Zheng had already passed the stage of going around just to pay respects at every power’s door; he would drop by if he happened to be going that way.
Lu Zheng believed that if the various City Gods were not forbidden from leaving their posts without permission, Lu Yuxing would definitely have co looking for a chance to visit him already.
Not to ntion that Lu Zheng had made a huge splash at the New Year Dharma Assembly on White Cloud Mountain; even the Lord Deputy Director from the Observatory hadn’t dared put on airs before him—well, although that had been because of Si Lingxi.
Still, with Lu Zheng’s current standing, going as a guest to the Yizhou City God Temple was definitely sothing that would give Lu Yuxing a lot of face.
Shen Ying continued recounting her experiences. "The conference was held at the Yanzhou City God Temple. I have to say, the Yanzhou City God Temple is much bigger than the Tonglin County City God Temple; calling it a small city wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Lingbei Dao has jurisdiction over seven States and sixty-two Counties. Counting , there were seventy people seated at the City God Conference. The main purpose was to review what had happened in each place over the past ten years and to report on the changes in the Netherworld over those ten years.
Of course, they also introduced the newly appointed City Gods. After all, in these ten years there were City Gods who had died of old age, City Gods who died at the hands of Ghosts from the Netherworld, and City Gods who were promoted for rit in suppressing enemies, leaving their posts to be filled by newcors."
"Huh?" Lu Zheng asked curiously. "Brother Xin didn’t get promoted?"
Back when Xin Zhanting had wiped out Yelan Mountain with Lu Zheng’s help, and with the territory he had expanded in the Netherworld over the past few years, how could that still not be enough rit for a promotion?
Shen Ying paused, then said helplessly, "General Xin’s rit is sufficient, but perhaps his talent has its limits. Although Tonglin County hasn’t lacked Incense these past few years, General Xin’s strength has only increased by so much..."
The City God System was not the sa as the mortal world’s Civil Servant system. If you wanted to be promoted, aside from rit, your own strength had to be up to par as well. Otherwise, how were you supposed to keep your underlings—those arrogant, battle-hardened troops—in line?
Especially for the one in charge, strength was absolutely the first thing that needed to be guaranteed.
And although Xin Zhanting’s achievents on the battlefield were enough these years, his strength hadn’t caught up. His options were to either go serve as a deputy in a higher-level City God Temple, or to stay on in his current post, with at most a half-rank promotion in his official title.
Xin Zhanting had obviously chosen the latter.
Rather than go sowhere else and take orders, he’d rather be his own Local Emperor in Tonglin County. With his level of strength, blocking the forces within Tonglin County’s Netherworld was absolutely not a problem. From ti to ti he could also drink and feast with Lu Zheng and Yue Honghai; his days were more than comfortable.
"Makes sense. Honestly, that’s pretty good." Lu Zheng nodded. "The waters of the Netherworld are very deep. If he just sits here in this corner of the map, in a stalemate with Broken Blade Mountain and Chaotic Corpse Pool, he’s actually safer."
Don’t be fooled by the fact that the Ghosts from the Netherworld Lu Zheng had run into—Ye Lan King, Black Wheel King, True Monarch Ye Gu, Snow Robe Princess and the like—had almost all died by his hand; that didn’t an the Ghosts were weak.
To say nothing of the others, Snow Robe Princess alone had over two thousand years of Dao Practice; his senior brother, the Ten Thousand Transformations Saint Infant, was even stronger. It was just that the people of the mortal world were even more formidable, and they had happened to run headlong into a steel plate.
But that didn’t an Xin Zhanting could survive if he ran into them. On the contrary, if he happened to et any one of them at random, he’d be dead for sure.
Shen Ying went on, "Aside from those matters, there were also the Court’s rewards for the rits accumulated by the City Gods over the past ten years. Besides Incense from the Royal Family, there were Elixirs, Cultivation Techniques, Treasures, and legacy rewards for the City Gods’ descendants in the mortal world."
Lu Zheng nodded and said with a smile, "You’ve contributed so much Incense to the City God System; didn’t the Court give you any reward?"
Shen Ying giggled, lightly raised her hand, and a Jade Seal appeared in her palm.
The Jade Seal was a pale cyan overall, with a faint pink glow on its surface. It was only about the width of a palm, and on its back was carved a blooming green-and-pink Peach Blossom.
Shen Ying flipped the Jade Seal over, and Lu Zheng saw on the bottom two elegant, rounded, raised characters carved in seal script: Peach Blossom Fairy.
The Jade Seal itself emanated a strong Incense and Candle Qi, and also carried a majestic, imposing aura that gave one a sense of solemn authority and universal obeisance.
"This is... Incense and Candle Qi from the Royal Family?" Lu Zheng asked.
Shen Ying nodded. "This Incense and Candle Qi has been refined by the ancestral veins of the Da Jing Imperial Family. It carries the might of the throne, and its power is thirty percent greater than ordinary Incense and Candle Qi—it’s like Dragon’s Might.
At this year’s City God Conference, the Central City God Temple sent soone in person to bestow upon the Peach Blossom Fairy Seal. From now on, my Taohua Temple is directly subordinate to the Central City God Temple, and all the Taohua Temples throughout Great Jing are under my jurisdiction."
"Nice! That’s impressive!" Lu Zheng praised.
Although Shen Ying was united with the poem Peach Blossoms, and thanks to the poem’s spread, any Taohua Temple founded across the land that offered prayers accompanied by Peach Blossoms had to share its Incense and Candle Qi with her, this reward from the Great Jing Court was more like being generous with Shen Ying’s own purse.
But you couldn’t tally the account that way.
In the final analysis, in terms of official status, up to now Shen Ying had only been a local Incense and Candle God registered under the Yizhou Prefecture City God, and although her foundation had already transcended the Great Jing Dynasty—so long as Peach Blossoms did not perish, her Incense would not be cut off—
If she wanted even more Incense and Candle Qi and to cultivate at the most efficient pace, the best approach was still to cooperate with the Court. Even top-tier sects from the Buddhist Sect and the Daoist Sect nominally observed the leadership of the Da Jing Court.
After all, the Court could choose not to help Shen Ying, but if it wanted to sabotage her, that would be all too easy.
"The Court didn’t state any conditions?" Lu Zheng asked.
"None." Shen Ying smiled sweetly. "It’s no secret that Peach Blossoms is your work; that ans I basically have White Cloud Temple as a backing force, so that Chief Clerk of the Rites Departnt from the Central City God Temple was extrely polite to ."
"Oh ho?" Lu Zheng lifted an eyebrow. "Didn’t expect my face to carry that much weight."
"But of course," Shen Ying said, laughing rrily.
"Then how are you going to thank—hss——"
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