Luck Spiritual Elegance, A King's Favor

Outside the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven, a large number of powerful figures and dignitaries were blocked, and they were all extremely anxious.

They all understood the immense benefits of the Grotto-Heaven being upgraded to a blessed land, but the prohibition was issued by the three kings, and no one dared to force their way in.

Those inside the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven were even more anxious, because at this time, 99% of the people could only stay in the ' Yang City ' territory.

Without the qualification of "Investigator", no one is allowed to leave Yang City, unless they want to leave Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven.

But at this time, who would leave Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven?

Anyone who leaves is an idiot!

But now that we're in, it feels awful to be stuck in Yang City.

"Rejected again! I applied for the ' Junior Explorer ' title three times, only applying to areas already explored like the Earth Fire Plain and the Ten Thousand Mile Thunder Pool, but all my applications were rejected!"

In Yang City, in a courtyard, Yi Yue was furiously slamming his fist on the table.

"Even if I'm a martial artist, not the Agricultural Official, surely a Junior Explorer wouldn't be so strict?"

A handsome young man next to Yi Yue glanced at him and said, "Why are you slamming the table at me? If you're so capable, why don't you fight Rahu King?"

"What did you say!"

"Alright, Nangong, Yi Yue, stop arguing," Qi Yuan Army advised. "Instead of wasting time, you should try to build up your connections. Even if you only manage to form a basic exploration team, it won't be a wasted trip."

Qi Yuan Army was also very annoyed. A delicious cake was placed in front of him, but he couldn't eat it and could only drool uncontrollably. This feeling was too torturous.

Even standing at the Boundary Marker of Yang City, one can feel the astonishing energy filling the heavens and earth. One can only imagine how many extraordinary encounters await in the outside world.

"A message has arrived!" Suddenly, Yi Yue jumped up.

He frantically tapped the Earth Mirror, and a phantom image was projected into the room.

It was Wei Hong, the son of Wei Yuan of the Tigron Army.

"Brother, you finally sent a message! I was so worried!" Yi Yue said.

"I'm sorry, Brother Yi." Wei Hong looked a little embarrassed. "I don't have any good news. My father can only set up a Intermediate Exploration Team, and there are only eight people in the team. It's already full of the Tigron Army's own people."

"What?" Yi Yue opened his mouth, his eyes filled with disappointment.

Seeing this, Qi Yuan Army said, "Brother Wei, you have done your best in this matter. We were forcing you to do more."

Yi Yue also realized his mistake and quickly composed himself. He couldn't blame his friend for not being able to do it. Whether it was successful or not, the friend had already done it, and that was all out of kindness.

"Yes, given the current situation, it's not Brother Wei's fault; it was my fault for losing my composure."

Wei Hong said, "Brother Qi, Brother Yi."

"Although I can't arrange for you to join the crew, I can tell you three some inside information that might be helpful."

Qi Yuan Army cupped his hands and said, "Brother Wei, please speak."

Wei Hong said, "Currently, among the various armies and departments in Yang City, as well as the powerful and influential people who have come in, there are still about ten people who have been able to apply for a quota, or have already obtained a quota and have the right to allocate it."

Qi Yuan Army, Yi Yue, and Nangong Ye were all taken aback.

This is good news for Wei Hong.

They just want to find someone, but they don't know whose connections to ask.

Because they are all very tight-lipped.

"First, there are the three kings of the Military Realm: Rahu King, Ling De King, and Heaven Derivation King. They all have the authority to let people in and approve the quotas."

This statement is meaningless; everyone knows that these three kings are in charge of the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven. The prohibitions were all issued by these three.

But if you could get in touch with these three people to become kings, then what else is there to say?

Wei Hong continued, "Secondly, there is the Liang King. The Prince of Liang King submitted a memorial to His Majesty, reporting the auspicious Favorable Weather of the blessed land, and His Majesty also granted him some administrative authority."

Yi Yue smiled wryly and said, "Brother Wei, please stop talking about this king and that king. I'm not even close to being one of them."

How could they, mere Sixth Rank officials, possibly climb the ladder to becoming kings?

Even if you manage to curry favor with them, you'll only become a lowly soldier under their command, with no real importance.

Indeed, Qi Yuan Army, Yi Yue, and Nangong Ye are all geniuses.

But the Great Zhou Dynasty has no shortage of geniuses. In the past thousand years, how many geniuses have been born?

"Alright," Wei Hong said, "How far can the connections you all reach?"

Qi Yuan Army, Nangong Ye, and Yi Yue exchanged a glance and said, "General, you've already gone to great lengths to bring us in. At most, we can ask you to do us a favor with a Fifth Grade official."

The generals of the three great Grotto-Heaven are all at the Martial Marquis level, but Qi Yuan Army, Nangong Ye, and Yi Yue are not their sons, but just their soldiers.

They've already done more than enough to escort me this far.

Wei Hong, "Nowadays in the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven, the only Fifth Grade who can get a spot through the quota are probably the Agriculture Official; the rest are hardly influential."

The Agricultural Official is in charge of the workings of heaven and earth. The elevation of the Grotto-Heaven to a blessed land was also announced by the Yang City Ministry of Agriculture.

Most Fifth Grade Agricultural Official were actually not qualified.

Zuo Zizhi, Ge Jinsong, and Cheng Qingming, who are of the Fifth Grade, are relatively weak in terms of strength and influence.

"You need to find at least the officials of the agricultural and supervisory levels to handle matters related to the Heavenly Timing, Earthly Advantage Institute, Grand Granary, and the four academies of Huai Equalization Office."

Wei Hong did bring some real talent, naming several people. "Fan Zhaoli, Lu Bang, Mei Zhiru Tian Yan, Liu Tianning, Zhang Song, and Gong Tiansi. These people definitely have quotas in their hands."

"You don't need to waste your time on the others," Wei Hong said.

"Alright. Thank you, Brother Wei." Qi Yuan Army cupped his hands and said, "I wish you a fruitful journey, Brother Wei."

"It's nothing." Wei Hong nodded and then hung up the call.

Meanwhile, Qi Yuan Army, Yi Yue, and Nangong Ye quickly entered their rooms to contact their respective backers.

One hour later.

The three of them came out of the room one after another.

"How is it?" Qi Yuan Army asked.

"The general has agreed to give Fan Zhaoli a try, but there is no guarantee that it will be successful," Nangong Ye said.

"Marquis Yan plans to try his luck with Zhang Song and Lu Bang, but he hasn't given us a definite answer yet," Yi Yue sighed.

It's incredibly difficult to get a share of this kind of extraordinary opportunity.

Especially in the early stages, a lot of people were scrambling to get in.

Nangong Ye Yi Yue exchanged a helpless glance; saying "give it a try" was essentially meaningless.

"I have made a discovery," Qi Yuan Army said, "And you wouldn't believe me if I didn't tell you."

"The general told me that there is an Agriculture Official in Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven named Liu Tianning. He is a member of the Military Realm Inspection Department and also serves as the agricultural director in Great Granary Institute, responsible for training soldiers."

"The general said that Liu Tianning's backer seems to be one of the three kings, and he also seems to have ties to the royal family, controlling a large number of quotas!"

"Hmm?" Nangong Ye and Yi Yue asked in confusion, "Is it Liu Tianning from Taihe County?"

"Yes," Qi Yuan Army said. "The general just contacted Liu Tianning. But the result surprised me greatly. The general said that Liu Tianning told him to go to Zhao Xing to ask for a spot."

"Zhao Xing?" Nangong Ye was taken aback. "You mean Zhao Xing of the Divine Might Army? What does this have to do with him?"

"Yeah, how did we get onto Zhao Xing?" Yi Yue was also completely confused.

"Zhao Xing is Liu Tianning's disciple," Qi Yuan Army said. "Liu Tianning created a top-level exploration team with a maximum of 30 members, and Liu Tianning actually gave most of the slots to Zhao Xing."

"What?" Nangong Ye Yi Yue were shocked. "A top-tier investigation team, just like that, handed over to him?"

"From what I heard from the general, Liu Tianning values Zhao Xing highly and is even willing to do such a favor for his disciple," Qi Yuan Army said with emotion.

Upon hearing this, Nangong Ye Yi Yue were so envious that their eyes turned red.

What an amazing teacher!

"It's too difficult to persuade Liu Tianning. When the general heard that we knew Zhao Xing, he told us to contact Zhao Xing ourselves and see what price we would have to pay to get a spot," Qi Yuan Army said.

"Then what are we waiting for? Contact them immediately!" Nangong Ye quickly took out the Earth Mirror.

Yi Yue also took out the Earth Mirror. At this moment, he was glad that he had only had a falling out with Liao Rulong of the Divine Might Army, but had not criticized Zhao Xing. He just didn't know if this relationship could be used.

Inverted Peak Mountain Range, Zhao Xing sat in a room inside the Qilin Flying Boat.

Before him stood a 'phantom' clad in cyan dragon-scale armor and a blood-phoenix cloak.

"Your humble servant Zhao Xing greets Xin King." Zhao Xing cupped his hands in greeting.

This is a prince of a different surname, and the third prince to seek him out today.

Liu Yong, the Xin King, was a prince of Pinghai Province. He made contributions to the development of Nine Heavens Responding Origin Prefecture in the middle of the Renovation Era Calendar and was promoted from Marquis of Martial Marquis to a prince. Later, he married one of Emperor Jing's cousins, so he could be considered a member of the imperial family.

However, Xin King is already very old, over six hundred years old now. Judging from Xin King appearance, he doesn't have much time left.

Xin King was Third-Rank Yuan Soul cultivator, but his hair had turned white and his face was covered in wrinkles.

This is because the Seven Po of the physical body are almost exhausted, and it is only because the Fate Soul is strong enough to nourish the Seven Po of the physical body that it is able to keep the body alive.

But this won't last long. At most, it will be fifty years before Xin King dies. His throne is not hereditary. Once he dies, his fortune will not be fully inherited by his descendants. Instead, it will be downgraded. Part of it will remain in the court, and the other part will be calculated according to the system of succession of Nobility Title.

"Zhao Xing, your teacher said that the top-level exploration team has been handed over to you for management." Xin King's voice was very gentle, and even through the Earth Mirror, it gave people a feeling of being bathed in a spring breeze.

"It's all thanks to the teacher's kindness."

Xin King didn't waste any words and went straight to the point:

"I have thirteen sons in total, and the rest of them have all made their own way in the world. The only one I'm worried about now is my youngest son."

"He's a good-for-nothing, so his father wants to find a way out for him."

"If you're willing to open this door of convenience, give him a Senior Explorer position, and ask that you open it however you like."

Zhao Xing did not answer immediately.

Xin King added, "I have been on the battlefield for many years, and although I am nearing the end of my life, I still have fifty years to live. Of my twelve sons, two have entered the Golden Wu Guard, and seven are officials of the Fifth Grade, mainly serving in Pinghai Province and Divine Province."

Liu Yong spoke very frankly; at his age, there's nothing he can't say.

It was almost as if he was telling Zhao Xing directly: I still have fifty years to fight, so you don't have to worry about me dying immediately after I take this favor from you.

Even if I die, some of my sons are capable and will be able to repay your favor.

Xin King did not mention money, because transactions of this magnitude would generally not involve monetary exchange.

Zhao Xing didn't hesitate for long before cupping his hands and saying, "Since you have kept your Xin King, I have no hesitation. Please tell me where you live, and I will come to fetch you personally."

"Very well." The white-haired Xin King smiled slightly. "I will order him to wait at your Eighteen Locust Willow Courtyard."

After saying this, Xin King Liu Yong, hung up the communication.

"Phew~" Zhao Xing let out a long breath and walked out of the cabin.

"How many is this?" Xia Jing asked.

"Third place now," Zhao Xing sighed.

Why are you sighing?

"Dealing with kings and nobles is very stressful."

"Brother, I'm willing to take this pressure for you."

"Haha, I can still carry it, so I don't need it for now."

"Tch." Xia Jing gave Zhao Xing a disdainful look.

"What, is someone looking for you again?" Long Xiao walked over, holding the Earth Mirror, and said, "Another person from the exploration team has come in. This is the fourth one."

"Okay. I'll take care of that first," Zhao Xing said.

His teacher let two people in.

He also released two spots today.

Including the son of Xin King, that makes it the fifth.

However, he didn't need to go back, because with the True Self Straw Puppet in place, he only needed to have the Straw Man left in Yang City pick up Liu Yong's son.

"How are Old Chen and Brother Ji doing with the search?" Zhao Xing asked, looking at a waterfall in the distance.

Below the waterfall lies a cold pool.

As the Grotto-Heaven was upgraded, strange phenomena emerged in the evolution of heaven and earth. They had found this cold pool by following these phenomena.

For things like escaping underground or underwater, mages are definitely more suited to it.

So Long Xiao and Xia Jing, the two Martial Man, stayed on the boat and watched over things, while Zhao Xing, who was dealing with other matters, did not go down to look for them himself.

"They've been down there for two hours," Xia Jing said. "I wonder how they are doing."

"You all stay here and don't move," Zhao Xing said. "I'll go down and take a look too."

Buzz~

Zhao Xing rode on clouds and soon arrived at the foot of the waterfall mountain.

"Water from the sky flows without roots; this waterfall is not visible from the outside."

Zhao Xing felt the terrifying pressure of the water element.

"Boom!" The waterfall, over a hundred meters high, crashed down into the deep pool below, where the water still exuded a chilling aura.

"Thump~"

Zhao Xing jumped into the water and, braving the negative pressure, began to grope his way down.

The Divine Swift Guard allows Zhao Xing to escape both underwater and underground, though at a much slower speed than underground.

Cold, the chilling air constantly seeps into the Octagonal Underground Palace.

The greater the descent, the greater the pressure and the higher the spell consumption.

"Um?"

As they sank to a certain depth, Zhao Xing suddenly noticed specks of blue light emerging in the dark, deep, icy pool.

"What's that?" Zhao Xing swam over in that direction.

A moment later, he approached.

"Millennium Cold Crystal?"

"So much?"

Zhao Xing looked at the blue glow around him.

"Old Chen, Old Chen."

Zhao Xing used the fluctuations in the water veins to transmit information to Chen Shijie.

Soon, the water rippled and struck Zhao Xing's Octagonal Underground Palace with a unique frequency.

"Why did you come down here too?"

"You and Brother Ji come to my location and retrieve the Millennium Cold Crystal."

"Good."

A quarter of an hour later, Chen Shijie and Ji Ziyun swam over to Zhao Xing's side.

Among them, Ji Ziyun was holding up a spherical water shield, while Old Chen had a light blue light membrane attached to his body.

"These are really Millennium Cold Crystal! And there are so many of them?" Ji Ziyun also somewhat shocked. "What kind of luck do you have? You found Millennium Cold Crystal as soon as you went into the water? We searched for so long and only found some that were a hundred years old."

"I've always been very lucky," Zhao Xing said with a chuckle.

Actually, this isn't purely a matter of luck.

Zhao Xing was also skilled in divination and prediction.

Once underwater, he activated "Five Finger Heavenly Mandate," a destiny-based spell that inherently possesses a "luck bonus." Zhao Xing's luck had Derivation Four, and combined with "Five Finger Heavenly Mandate," he had already reached the destination. If he still couldn't find it, that would truly be suspicious.

"Hurry up and scoop it up, don't waste time," Zhao Xing said.

"Good."

The three of them began rapidly collecting the Millennium Cold Crystal underground.

Half an hour later.

"Splash!"

The three emerged from the icy pool, surrounded by blue starlight.

A surge of cold air erupted suddenly.

Then it fell silent, and the cold pool lost its mystique.

"They're up here!" Xia Jing and Long Xiao's eyes lit up, and they rushed over.

"How?"

"Finally, we've made a great discovery," Ji Ziyun said.

"Not bad," Zhao Xing replied at the same time.

"Not bad?" Ji Ziyun's eyes widened. "This is a sixth-order Millennium Cold Crystal."

Ji Ziyun always felt that Zhao Xing's standards were too high, so she followed Zhao Xing for two days.

He increasingly had the illusion that Zhao Xing was the Heir Apparent the prince, while he himself seemed like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world.

"Millennium Cold Crystal is a material for refining weapons; we can't absorb much of it," Zhao Xing said.

Using the Millennium Cold Crystal for cultivation can enhance one's talent in 'ice-type spells' and also increase resistance to ice power.

Of the five people, Zhao Xing absorbed two and a half, Ji Ziyun absorbed two, and Old Chen absorbed one and a half.

Long Xiao and Xia Jing only absorbed half of it.

"My water-based magic has improved greatly!" Ji Ziyun exhaled a wisp of cold air. "It really is a good thing."

The Millennium Cold Crystal is extremely difficult to obtain, as it takes a thousand years to form.

And now, there are more than three hundred here!

"We can only absorb one or two, but these can be used to submit exploration missions," Zhao Xing said.

"An scout mission?" Ji Ziyun wondered. He had only been in the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven for a short time and was not familiar with its intricacies.

"Brother Ji, you may not know this, but these scout positions aren't given away for nothing," Zhao Xing explained. "I anticipate that the Military Realm will soon be issuing assignments to all the scouts and scout teams."

"Since we bear this title, we have to do things. What do scouts do? Of course, they find treasures and hand them over."

"It must be submitted every few days. If it is not completed, the rank will be reduced. If Junior Explorer reduced, he or she will have to leave the field."

Ji Ziyun suddenly realized. "That's right, that makes sense."

Zhao Xing said, "Being an explorer is inherently a tough job. Dean Fan toiled for three years in the Inverted Peak Mountain Range and finally changed a place that could continuously produce Original Seed fruits. He was rewarded with 1 billion points."

"However, apart from his big team, the other Junior Explorer and intermediate explorers actually live a pretty ordinary life."

Just think about it, even a Sixth Rank Mechanism Master like Gao Ming has to double as a deliveryman, an Arsenal inventory officer, and the Director of Ceremonial Supervision.

In the Military Realm, accumulating points is not actually that easy.

Officials under Emperor Jing did not enjoy high welfare benefits. Whether they wanted to live a better life or get promoted, they had to work hard and outdo others.

When Zhao Xing proposed to Liu Tianning to create a top-level exploration team, why did Old Liu hesitate?

Because this is not a good task; it only adds to the burden and delays one's cultivation.

"But precisely because the investigators worked so hard, after the Grotto-Heaven was upgraded, the original investigator positions were not taken back, and those officials who controlled the positions were allowed to recruit people."

Ji Ziyun remarked with emotion, "Now that arduous jobs have become lucrative ones, it can be considered a reward for hardworking and diligent officials."

"Countless people want to get a spot now, but it's as difficult as climbing to the sky."

"Alright, cousin, stop reminiscing," Xia Jing said with a smile. "Let's set off quickly and continue our search for opportunities."

"Okay, let's go!" Ji Ziyun smiled.

For the next three days, Zhao Xing received no further requests from the king.

Because Liu Tianning helped him filter through a layer of contacts, only those who were suitable would be contacted by someone else to get in touch with Zhao Xing.

On the fifth day after the three kings issued the ban.

As Zhao Xing had predicted, the Military Realm began to increase the tasks assigned to scouts at all levels.

"Junior investigators must find and submit ten fifth-tier treasures every three days, and the number must not be less than one hundred."

"Intermediate-level investigators must find and submit ten treasures of at least the fifth rank every five days."

"Senior Explorer must submit sixth-tier treasures. Failure to complete the mission three times in a row will result in a demotion." Long Xiao couldn't help but say, "There's no such thing as a free lunch. This is exhausting."

"If you don't do it, plenty of people will be eager to do it," Chen Shijie said.

"All treasures must be handed over," Zhao Xing said. "That's the rule."

"It's tiring, but the benefits are huge."

"For example, the Ganoderma lucidum, fruits, and Millennium Cold Crystal that we discovered before, you can use as much as you want and eat as much as you want, as long as you have the ability to digest them."

"Not bad." Xia Jing nodded. "They're all soldiers of the Great Zhou, so the meat will just rot in the pot anyway."

Zhao Xing said, "With the Millennium Cold Crystal, the five of us won't have to worry about submitting our mission for the next ten days. After that, we won't look for any more treasures."

"Then what are we looking for?" Long Xiao asked.

"The Heavenly Spirit Essence. Such as the Myriad Laws Spiritual Elegance, the Luck Spiritual Elegance, the Lifespan Spiritual Elegance... these are the best things for us."

"Brother Ji, you mentioned seeing Fire in Water earlier, was it in that direction?"

"It seems so," Ji Ziyun pondered.

Zhao Xing maneuvered the flying boat, made a turn, and immediately flew in the direction Ji Ziyun pointed. "Old Chen, Xia Jing, Long Xiao, you guys keep an eye on your surroundings from now on."

"If we see winged, ape-like beasts or fruits resembling babies in the sky, we should immediately give chase whenever we see these strange phenomena."

"Good."

After Zhao Xing finished speaking, he activated his Heavenly Eye and looked around the flying boat.

The Aura Gazing Technique in the Great Evolution Scripture can not only see a person's fortune, but also the location of their "Luck Spiritual Elegance"!

Luck Spiritual Elegance Ling Xiu, in essence, is also a kind of Qi Yun, which is formed by the condensation of the Qi Yun of mountains, rivers and lakes in the world.

According to Ji Ziyun, the "Fire in Water" is very likely the Luck Spiritual Elegance.

"Hmm?" Suddenly, a flash of red light appeared in Zhao Xing's vision.

"Long Xiao, descending altitude, valley at the ninth latitude in the southeast."

"Alright!" Long Xiao immediately perked up and steered the airship downwards.

Upon arriving at their destination, the five men were immediately invigorated.

Because there was a hot spring in the valley below, steaming and with flames flowing in the water, it was clearly extraordinary, and at the same time they all felt a Heart's Blood Surge.

"Found it, this is it!" Zhao Xing's eyes burned with excitement.