Yangzhou City, Lin Manor.
The residence of Lin Ruhai, a fourth-rank Celestial Court Salt Inspector commissioned to inspect salt administration across the Three Realms and oversee the spiritual veins of Jianghuai, stood on a small hill at the end of the main street inside the city gate, where spiritual veins converged. The entire hill, neither large nor small, belonged to Lin Manor.
Its tall, vermilion gates were studded with golden rivets arranged like the stars of the celestial cycle, faintly forming a Spirit Gathering Array.
The two qilin statues before the gates were no ordinary objects. They were stone spirits brought to life by secret arts, their eyes bright as they breathed out hazy immortal qi. Ordinary evil spirits dared not approach.
In addition, a silver-armored celestial soldier stood on either side, each holding a standard-issue long halberd etched with shimmering runes. Their auras were steady, their eyes glimmering with divine light; both were clearly at the Foundation Establishment stage or higher. They embodied all the dignity and grandeur befitting the residence of a fourth-rank Celestial Court official.
Inside the residence, past several covered corridors and around a screen wreathed in immortal qi, lay a spacious main reception hall. Its furnishings were simple and elegant, yet unmistakably possessed the air of an immortal's abode.
Warm jade spirit tiles covered the floor, and tranquilizing immortal herbs stood in the four corners. Ink paintings of no ordinary quality hung on the walls, depicting cloud-wrapped mountains and seas of mist, their spiritual essence seeming to flow?
Behind the seat of honor hung an enormous painting titled Salt Inspection on the Celestial River. It depicted an immortal official piloting a flying dragon boat as he inspected salt administration across the Three Realms and tended to the spiritual currents of the waterways. The grand scene