Chapter 51: Chapter 49: Wenzhe City Garrison
"What good news?"
Du Youqian asked lazily as Little Fatty burst through the door.
He didn’t feel the least bit excited.
That was because Little Fatty’s judgment was notoriously unreliable.
What he considered good news wasn’t necessarily good, and what he considered bad news wasn’t necessarily bad.
As for how Little Fatty could barge into Du Youqian’s abode as if he owned the place, one could only blame the guy for being such an extreme social butterfly.
Even Du Youqian had been unknowingly sweet-talked into giving him the token to the array that controlled access to his home.
To this day, he deeply regretted it.
It was because whenever he wanted a moment of peace, he would be suddenly assaulted by a barrage of incessant chatter.
"Brother Yuanqing, I’m telling you, this is absolutely fantastic news," Guo Mingsheng said mysteriously. "Aren’t you tired of the endless, boring routine of Alchemy and Artifact Refining, but you can’t refuse the Sect’s arrangements? Well, now you have a chance to do something else!"
Du Youqian subconsciously perked up. "Do what?"
’If I can stop the tedious repetition of Alchemy and Artifact Refining, I’ll do anything.’
"Lean in closer... Ouch! Brother Yuanqing, what did you hit me for?" Little Fatty looked aggrieved.
Du Youqian said flatly, "Just speak normally."
"Brother Yuanqing!" Little Fatty postured as if he were about to throw a cute tantrum.
A chill ran down Du Youqian’s spine. "Don’t call me ’Brother.’ Call me Martial Uncle."
"Brother Yuanqing Martial Uncle." Feeling wronged, Little Fatty Guo Mingsheng had no choice but to drop the suspense and tell him everything from the beginning.
After listening, a strange glint appeared in Du Youqian’s eyes.
This Blessed Land was densely populated with several scattered City-States, and the Zhongxuan Sect was its absolute ruler.
In fact, the total population of this Blessed Land was already approaching the administrative standard for Second-class Sects.
It was a symbol of the Zhongxuan Sect’s former glory.
Regarding the administration of these City-States, exceptional mortals were selected as City Guardians, Civil Servants, Officers, and other managers.
The elite disciples within the Zhongxuan Sect focused on their Cultivation, while those who had lost their potential were dispatched to the various City-States to maintain order and suppress lawlessness.
This was a model adopted in many Blessed Lands.
If this entire Blessed Land were a corporation,
then the relationship between the mortal City Guardians and the Sect disciples would be like that between a CEO and an executive director.
However, there were occasional exceptions where elite disciples were sent to participate in the administration of a City-State.
When this happened, it usually meant the Sect was about to place this elite disciple in a major role, such as an important Steward position or a Vice Hall Master.
Thus, the elite disciple would first be sent to the Mortal World to hone their administrative skills before being promoted.
This time, a vacancy had opened up in the Blessed Land’s largest City-State—Wenzhe City—and the Sect decided to send an elite disciple to Garrison it for three years.
There were five candidates, and Du Youqian was not only one of them but also the top consideration.
The absurd part was that Du Youqian, as a True Disciple of the Sect, was part of its core strength and a definite candidate for the future upper echelon.
Yet even he hadn’t known about this, while Little Fatty had managed to find out.
This just went to show how absurd the world could be.
After sending Little Fatty away, Du Youqian carefully weighed his options.
Taking the Garrison post in the City-State meant he wouldn’t have to participate in daily administrative affairs, but his Cultivation would still be affected to some extent.
After all, he would have to manage interpersonal relationships, keep an eye on the mortal City Guardians, Civil Servants, and Officers to prevent them from becoming too extortionate, and occasionally take action to suppress troublesome Loose Cultivators or Evil Cultivators.
Furthermore, the Spirit Vein in the city was far inferior to the one in the Sect.
The upside, however, was that he could finally be free from the monotonous cycle of Alchemy and Artifact Refining.
Du Youqian knew, of course, that repeatedly refining several types of elixirs and crafting standardized magical artifacts could improve his skills.
Practice makes perfect, after all.
The problem was, there was a limit to this kind of improvement.
At best, he could become a skilled craftsman, but never a master.
After all, while he’d been lucky enough to get a cheat when he transmigrated, it wasn’t some kind of "proficiency panel" system.
Therefore, for him right now, even spending time thinking, contemplating on his own, or simply emptying his mind would be better than continuing the repetitive crafting of elixirs and spiritual artifacts. Learning another skill to see if he could draw parallels would be better, too.
With this in mind, Du Youqian made his decision: he would vie for the position of Garrison Guardian in Wenzhe City.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Du Youqian hadn’t expected that with just a little effort on his part, the matter would be settled.
He had originally thought the Sect would be reluctant to let him go. After all, his Alchemy skills were among the best in the Sect, with both his Pill Formation Success Rate and Pill Quality being quite impressive. The same went for his Artifact Refining.
But the Sect Leader and the Elders readily agreed to let him go to Wenzhe City to serve as its Garrison Guardian for three years.
In the end, it was his master, Ma Chongyu, who revealed the profound reasoning behind it. "Mortal World Heart Cultivation is also an indispensable part of one’s cultivation. If your mental state can’t keep up, the Foundation Establishment Stage will be very difficult to pass. So the Sect considered sending you to the Garrison post for training. These three years will be well worth it."
"When you return, you’ll only be thirty-seven. The Secret Realm will be opening around that time. If you can gain something from the Secret Realm, the Sect will also give you some extra support to help you break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm before you turn fifty."
Du Youqian nodded. "Thank you for your guidance, Master."
Ma Chongyu then asked, "I heard that you previously helped someone refine the Snow Wormwood Yang Supplement Pill. You took three sets of ingredients and successfully produced a pill from all three?"
"Yes."
"Did you keep the extra Snow Wormwood Yang Supplement Pills for yourself?"
"Yes, Master."
"You haven’t taken any yourself, have you?"
"I have not."
"Good," Ma Chongyu said, seemingly satisfied with the answer. "You should be well aware of the pros and cons of the Snow Wormwood Yang Supplement Pill."
"The Snow Wormwood Yang Supplement Pill is a Top Grade Elixir for the Qi Cultivation Late Stage, and it’s quite difficult to refine. Just one pill can help even someone with a Lower Grade Spirit Root break through from the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer to the Eighth Layer within three months. Two pills can help them break through from the Eighth Layer to the Ninth Layer within half a year. Four pills can take them from the Ninth Layer all the way to Qi Cultivation Great Perfection within a year."
"But the drawbacks are also immense. Using the Snow Wormwood Yang Supplement Pill to break through will severely damage a Cultivator’s potential, making it nearly impossible for them to ever reach Foundation Establishment. It also shortens one’s lifespan to a certain extent."
"However, for Cultivators with a Lower Grade Spirit Root who already have no hope of reaching Foundation Establishment, or for those who are past the sixty-year-old mark, using the Snow Wormwood Yang Supplement Pill to reach Qi Cultivation Perfection is a fairly worthwhile trade-off."
"That’s why, among Tier One elixirs, the Snow Wormwood Yang Supplement Pill is quite valuable. It uses Tier One Top Grade materials and has a Tier One refinement difficulty, yet it can be sold for the price of a Tier Two Lower Grade or even a Tier Two Middle Grade elixir."
"I’ve kept more than ten of them, intending to sell them for a good price when I travel in the future."
Ma Chongyu said lightly, "As long as you don’t take them yourself, it’s fine. As a True Disciple, it’s time you started cultivating some of your own trusted followers. If your followers have poor aptitude and can’t reach Foundation Establishment, then bestowing a few Snow Wormwood Yang Supplement Pills to help them reach Qi Cultivation Perfection will enable them to better serve you. For instance, that Guo Mingsheng... I think that kid has potential."
Du Youqian smiled. "Yes, Master. I will give it serious consideration."
