Belun Manor
At this moment, the handover between the city lord and his entourage was completed, and a young girl stepped down from the carriage and disappeared among the guards.
"Is this the city lord?"
Bai Cai turned aside, "At most, Soul Elder, a canary?"
Farnos City, a second- or third-tier city in the Star Luo Empire, has always had city lords who are generally Four-Ring Soul Ancestor. The Belun region is the origin of many trade routes, so it's a miracle that the city lord is only Soul Elder.
The Gui Family symbolizes the thousand-year history of the Belun region, but with a Soul Elder appointed as the city lord, does the Gui Family lack talent?
It should be noted that the Life Spirit Academy is located in the Belun region, so the power of the Soul Master should not be underestimated. Due to the prosperity of trade, the noble groups are also deeply rooted.
The current city lord has a maximum level of Soul Elder; how can he capture Fallen Soul Master? How can he suppress the noble groups?
Even though the Gui Family enjoys great prestige, sending a Soul Elder to serve as the city lord still seems overly arrogant.
The dean of Shrek would also serve as the city lord, and the minimum requirement would be Titled Douluo; otherwise, other academies would question whether Shrek had a successor.
The Belun region is so rich that even with the Gui Family's high prestige, they would still have to send at least one Soul King.
If we were to return to the era of the Spirit Hall, the Belun City would even be comparable to a Cardinal, and his cultivation level should be equivalent to or higher than Soul Saint.
After the destruction of the Slaughter City, Evil Soul Master became increasingly rampant. Normally, maintaining order in the Belun region even requires top-tier Soul Master, such as Soul Douluo.
Prestige and cultivation are two different things. No matter how high one's prestige is, if one cannot suppress Fallen Soul Master and noble groups, it is just a mirage.
A day ago, Bai Cai thought that Belun City was a henchman in the public eye, but now he probably doesn't even qualify as a henchman.
"The Gui Family's main line has always been passed down through single-lineage heirs. After losing both parents two years ago, the main line has been extinguished. As the last Belun City, other forces have been much more restrained to avoid inciting the anger of the people of Belun."
Ross remarked with a sigh, "If nothing unexpected happens, Gui Yue will soon repeat the pattern of previous city lords, presiding over the sacrificial rites twice a year, and then confining herself to the city lord's mansion until her death."
The canary can at least see the scenery outside the window, but the Belun City cannot leave without permission. At most, he can go to the winery to serve as a judge, and he can only leave the city twice a year.
The winery and the mansion—these are Gui Yue's two worlds, one a responsibility, and the other also a responsibility.
The Bai Cai remained silent.
If it were me, I would most likely choose to just walk away.
Having lost both parents and with no other ties, why be trapped in the position of city lord, wasting your life?
Reaching the Soul Elder before the age of twenty is already considered a cultivation genius. Innate Soul Power should be at least above level three. Even if one is not as powerful as some monsters, one can still live a carefree life.
At the age of six, Bai Cai's only wish was to possess Soul Power, even if it was only at the half-level, and even if she could never break through to the Soul Elder in her lifetime.
While the Grandmaster is a laughing stock, compared to his own kind, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon is the number one Beast Martial Soul in the world. How powerful is it? Ninety percent of the Soul Master on the continent are much weaker than the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.
Even the worst Grandmaster is still a level 29 Soul Grandmaster, and hunting ordinary Hundred-Year Soul Beast, such as hundred-year-old Lone Bamboo or hundred-year-old Nether Wolf, is equally easy for them.
For an ordinary family, the annual expenses are at most a few dozen Gold Soul Coin, which is the upper-middle level for ordinary people. In Cainong Village with dozens of households, each household earns an average of four or five Gold Soul Coin per year.
In contrast, the registration fee for Soul Master at Shrek is ten Gold Soul Coin, non-refundable and non-reimbursable, which shows how wealthy the Soul Master community is.
Reaching the Soul Elder before the age of twenty, one can go to any faction and live a carefree life, even if it means becoming a live-in son-in-law.
Most Martial Soul rely on bloodline inheritance. Whenever a commoner becomes wealthy, they have to recruit some Soul Master to improve the inheritance of their family's Martial Soul.
Confined to wineries and mansions, they waste their lives, squandering their talent for cultivation.
Of course, Bai Cai is merely a passerby, and even if she feels some sympathy, she won't say anything. Everyone has to be responsible for themselves, and Gui Yue has chosen to fulfill her responsibilities, so she must bear this kind of life.
Lord Gui Yue entered the winery, and Ross hurriedly summoned servants to lead Bai Cai to the guest rooms while he rushed to the judging site.
This winery is an ancient business, entirely owned by the Belun Family. For over a thousand years, it has been used to select wine connoisseurs, and many of its guest rooms are currently unused.
The servant was ordered to lead the Bai Cai to a manor. This manor had been renovated and rebuilt many times. It was surrounded by a high red brick wall, with neatly manicured lawns inside. Spires and pavilions stood on the gray stone road, and the stained glass windows were brightly colored. Birds would occasionally land and fly down. It was ancient and solemn, yet contained a touch of freshness and nature.
Using this estate as guest rooms is truly luxurious. The normal maintenance of an estate requires long-term financial investment. Without proper maintenance, the decor will quickly deteriorate, and weeds and rats and rabbits will roam freely.
In reality, many manors were not built with subsequent maintenance in mind, and after several generations of residents, they were either sold or abandoned.
Over the past century, the financial investment in its maintenance and upkeep has been comparable to rebuilding an entire estate!
Having been abandoned for a long time, the deserted manor outside Belun is often the subject of terrifying stories, such as Bloodlust giant rats that feed on children, vengeful Nether Wolf, and Evil Soul Master who dig up corpses.
Bai Cai admired the scenery of the manor, a servant pushed open the rough iron gate, took a few steps back, and said, "Ordinary servants are not allowed to enter the manor. Please understand."
Bai Cai immediately expressed her understanding, "Of course."
For security reasons, to prevent servants from colluding in private and to avoid collusion with outsiders, the permissions for entering and leaving the manor naturally differed for servants of different duties.
Generally speaking, the manor servants responsible for reception are limited to the outside of the manor, while the manor servants responsible for management are limited to the inside of the manor. As for the butler and personal maid, they are rarely responsible for reception.
Cainong Village is adjacent to a manor. The purchasing servants of the neighboring manor often travel to several nearby villages to buy daily necessities at low prices.
Even if the price is driven down very low, it is still a huge sum of money for the surrounding villages. When servants and villagers bargain, they mostly talk about the difficulties of the manor in an attempt to lower the price. Thus, Bai Cai understands these rules and their intentions.
After the servants left, the Bai Cai followed the wide main road, passed through a garden nursery, and circled a deep ditch, arriving smoothly at the mansion.
It must be said that the Belun Family was incredibly extravagant, both in their architecture and maintenance.
The wide main road, made of spliced limestone Plate, is flat and hard. The garden has exquisite courtyards, and deep ditches bring in clear water, which converges to form a blue lake. Vines climb on the nursery supports, and shrubs are full of berries.
The fact that a single estate is already this impressive speaks volumes about the family's wealth. And with the current head of the family being the "Flower of Belun," it's no wonder Ross boasted that the number of nobles who come to propose to him exceeds the number of barrels in the winery.
The mansion features a fountain at its front, surrounded by a plaza with smooth pebbles embedded in the limestone ground. Standing flower beds encircle the plaza, and simple, elegant cedar benches stand nearby, with a few birds perched on the ground.
As Bai Cai walked along the side of the flower bed, the noon bell suddenly rang, and the manor gate was pushed open. A beautiful girl in a lace dress suddenly appeared in front of Bai Cai.