The ways of the world

The Nine Provinces were vast, and Cloud Province occupied one of them.

Within Cloud Province, spiritual energy was extraordinarily dense, flowing along the mountains, rivers, and veins of the earth.

High in the sky, immortal birds occasionally beat their wings, and auspicious beasts trod upon the clouds.

Grotto-heavens and blessed lands dotted the region like stars across the heavens. Towering cities rose from the earth, their formations shining day and night.

Such flourishing prosperity was far beyond anything the remote regions could match.

Cloud Province City governed thirty-six prefectures, of which Lingyang Prefecture was the most unusual.

Lingyang Prefecture lay in the heart of Cloud Province, no more than a thousand miles from the provincial capital.

Moreover, the Heavenly Court ruled the Nine Provinces under strict laws.

Any cultivator in Cloud Province who wished to serve in the Heavenly Court had to pass through successive rounds of selection.

Here in Lingyang Prefecture stood the Merit Evaluation Immortal Office, directly subordinate to the Heavenly Court.

The Merit Evaluation Immortal Office was responsible for assessing cultivators seeking appointments throughout Cloud Province.

Whether they were rogue cultivators or prodigies from great sects, anyone seeking to enter the Heavenly Court had to begin with the Merit Evaluation Immortal Office in Lingyang Prefecture.

For precisely this reason, Lingyang Prefecture bustled with traffic all year round, drawing cultivators in droves.

Outside the Merit Evaluation Immortal Office.

The broad plaza paved with white jade teemed with people.

A long, winding queue stretched from the office gates past several streets and alleys.

Among those waiting were travel-worn rogue cultivators, as well as imposing disciples of major sects dressed in splendid Daoist robes.

Regardless of their origins, all wore guarded expressions, each clutching a recommendation letter bearing one of various magical seals, terrified of making even the slightest mistake.