Inside the castle, in a pavilion along a corridor.
Dongbo Xueying and Lord Si An sat facing each other. Servants brought them some pastries and hot tea. Zong Ling, Tong San, You Tu, and the others waited outside in the corridor.
Lord Si An cradled his hot tea and took a small sip as he watched the snow fall beyond the pavilion.
"Lord, it's so quiet and peaceful here. What a wonderful place. The city is far too noisy, with people coming and going all the time. You can even hear the racket outside when you're trying to sleep," Lord Si An said with a smile. "When I retire, I'll have to find a quiet place like this and enjoy myself."
Dongbo Xueying smiled. "So many people want to hold a high position and never get the chance."
"A high position? I'm just in charge of the Dragon Mountain Tower in a little county town. Some high position," Lord Si An said. With a flick of his hand, he took out a small stack of gold notes. "Here's eight hundred gold coins! It's Gai Bin's bounty. It's not much, but it still has to be paid."
Dongbo Xueying accepted it.
The Empire only offered bounties for wanted criminals who were at least Star-Rank or whose crimes were truly heinous. Ordinary bandits and thieves weren't eligible for bounties.
"This is a Black Iron Token." Lord Si An flicked his hand again and produced a black token bearing the words "Dragon Mountain." "Most citizens of the Empire receive one of these Black Iron Tokens once they reach Meteor Rank."
"Meteor Rank, and a Black Iron Token?" Dongbo Xueying mused.
"There are two main kinds of tokens."
Lord Si An continued casually, "One is the Black Iron Token, the other the Bronze Token. Anyone who reaches Meteor Rank can receive a Black Iron Token, while only those who reach Title-level can receive a Bronze Token... Beyond that is the transcendent realm! The transcendent beings are the foundation that protects our entire Xia Clan and the whole Empire. But that's a completely different world, so there's no need to say more."
"Take it. This Black Iron Token is yours alone, and it'll be very useful." Lord Si An placed the token in front of Dongbo Xueying.
Dongbo Xueying examined it closely. Apart from the words "Dragon Mountain," the black token was covered in complex patterns. They looked natural and harmonious, and even beautiful.
Lord Si An casually flicked his hand again and passed over a printed booklet. "This is the Imperial Newspaper published by our Dragon Mountain Tower. It usually records a few major events from across the Empire, but mostly provides detailed reports on Qinghe Prefecture. For example, you killed a Silver Moon Wolf King and wiped out the entire Curved Blade Alliance single-handedly. That'll be reported in the next issue of the Imperial Newspaper, and all the powerful figures in Qinghe Prefecture will see it."
"Oh?" Dongbo Xueying took it and began flipping through the pages.
The newspaper had more than a dozen pages. Only one page covered places outside Qinghe Prefecture; the rest was all about Qinghe Prefecture—
"On the nineteenth day of the eleventh month of Longshan Calendar 9623, the Fifth Regiment stationed in Qinghe Prefecture encountered a Tier 6 Magic Beast, a Dark Demon Bear, which had awoken from its slumber on the third day after they entered the Destruction Mountain Range. Both thousand-man battalions were wiped out..."
"On the tenth day of the eleventh month, a transcendent being appeared within the borders of Tianping City in Qinghe Prefecture. The figure was an old man with graying hair, dressed in rags and walking barefoot like an ascetic..."
"On the fifth day of the eleventh month, the Si Family and the Zhang Family formed a marriage alliance..."
The newspaper recorded significant events from across Qinghe Prefecture. For the most important official news, it even gave the exact date.
The reports on local curiosities, on the other hand, were much more casual.
Dongbo Xueying was fascinated. So much was happening across the nearly ten thousand li of Qinghe Prefecture.
"Lord Si An, a transcendent being actually appeared near Tianping City?" Dongbo Xueying asked curiously.
"He showed himself briefly, then disappeared," Lord Si An said with a smile. "Transcendent beings stand far above us. They pursue things very different from what ordinary people like us do. Ascetics wandering the world like that aren't uncommon. The newspaper reports on them so the powerful clans and influential figures in each region will be on their guard. They mustn't offend a transcendent being through sheer ignorance! If they do, it'll be the end of them. Their entire clan could be wiped out."
Dongbo Xueying nodded.
That was true.
Imagine bullying a beggar by the roadside, only to suddenly realize he was a transcendent being. Wouldn't that scare you to death?
"Transcendent beings are exceedingly rare. The Empire has nineteen provinces, and there are only a handful of them. Qinghe Prefecture is quite large, yet it doesn't have a single native transcendent being!" Lord Si An shook his head. "The Imperial Newspaper comes out monthly. You should read it regularly. It'll help you keep up with the major and minor events in the Empire, and you'll learn which forces you mustn't offend."
"The newspaper is just for amusement."
"What I'm giving you next is more and more important."
"This is the second most important thing: two rankings!" Lord Si An's expression grew serious. With a flick of his hand, two books appeared. One had a black cover bearing the words "Dragon Mountain." The other had a blood-red cover with nothing but a dripping blade painted on it.
"Two rankings?" Dongbo Xueying asked, curious.
"This one is the Longshan Ranking, compiled by our Dragon Mountain Tower. The other is the Blood Blade Ranking, compiled by the Blood Blade Tavern," Lord Si An explained.
Dongbo Xueying took the two thick books.
He opened the black Longshan Ranking first. It was arranged by rank, starting with first place, and filled with dense lists of names alongside brief notes.
"The Blood Blade Ranking is a ranking of assassins!" Lord Si An's words startled Dongbo Xueying.
"A ranking of assassins?" Dongbo Xueying looked at the blood-red book beside him.
"That's right. The Blood Blade Tavern has an extremely mysterious background, and even our Dragon Mountain Tower would rather not provoke it. There's a Blood Blade Tavern in every city in the Empire," Lord Si An said. "Based on the assassins' actual records, the tavern compiled this ranking. Almost all the names on it are aliases. Assassins usually keep their identities hidden, after all."
"The other one, the Longshan Ranking, carries more authority and is taken more seriously by every powerful figure in the Empire." Lord Si An looked proud. "The Longshan Ranking is compiled by our Dragon Mountain Tower. It lists the top three thousand Bronze-level experts across the Empire's nineteen provinces," he said. "From first place to three thousandth, every ranking is carefully considered and based on their records and many other factors."
"Three thousand experts across the Empire?" Dongbo Xueying's eyes lit up.
Bronze-level.
Only those with Title-level strength qualified to receive a Bronze Token! And the ranking listed three thousand of them.
"There are only so many transcendent beings in the Empire, so there's no need to compile a ranking for them," Lord Si An explained. "Among those below the transcendent realm, Title-level experts are just one step away from becoming transcendent. Some of them are exceptionally gifted, with strength comparable to transcendent beings. And there are relatively many Title-level experts across the Empire."
"There are twelve Bronze-level experts in all of Qinghe Prefecture. Five of them are ranked on the Longshan Ranking," Lord Si An said.
Dongbo Xueying nodded slightly. The Longshan Ranking only had room for three thousand, so not every Bronze-level expert could make the list.
"Of those five..."
"Fifth is Chang Qingze, ranked 2,895th on the Longshan Ranking."
"Fourth is Zhang Yong, ranked 2,822nd on the Longshan Ranking."
"Third is Dan Chen, ranked 1,259th on the Longshan Ranking."
"Second is Si Lianghong, ranked 569th on the Longshan Ranking."
"First is Xiang Pangyun, ranked 525th on the Longshan Ranking."
Lord Si An easily recited the detailed rankings of all five.
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