Daoist Registry

When Xia Dong received the invitation from the He Estate, he did not refuse.

Lord He was a retired official from the capital who had returned to his hometown. Although no longer in office, he still held honorary titles granted by the imperial court. In Pingyang County, he was a figure with connections everywhere. For Xia Dong, who was severely lacking in information channels and connections at this stage, this was an excellent opportunity to access the county's upper circles.

In the eastern part of Pingyang County, at the He Estate.

Led by the butler, Xia Dong passed through a quiet and elegant courtyard and arrived at Lord He's study.

Incense wafted through the study.

"This junior, Xia Dong, greets Lord He." Xia Dong cupped his hands slightly, his demeanor calm, neither servile nor overbearing.

Lord He put down his teacup and looked up and down at the young scholar before him, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes. Ordinary scholars from humble backgrounds would inevitably feel somewhat flustered when meeting someone like him, a former "high official in the capital." These petty traits were nowhere to be seen in Xia Dong.

What a fine jade tree he is.

"Young friend Xia, please dispense with the formalities and sit." Lord He smiled and stroked his beard. After Xia Dong was seated, he slowly got to the point. "I invited you here today for no other reason. It's just that a few days ago, I happened to read a peculiar book on the market called Tale of Liu Yi, and I was astounded by the talent of that 'Gouchen Ke.' I sent someone to inquire at the bookstore and only then did I learn that the one who wrote such exquisite prose is actually the newly emerging young talent of our Pingyang County."

Xia Dong understood upon hearing this.

"Your Lordship flatters me. This junior is merely poor and is just scribbling to make a living by borrowing the shell of ancient tales and legends. It is not worthy of the grand hall."

"Hahaha, young friend Xia is too modest." Lord He greatly appreciated Xia Dong's humility and caution. Then, he changed the subject and revealed his true purpose. "To be frank, I have been entrusted by the county yamen to lead the compilation of the Pingyang County Gazetteer. While other chapters of the gazetteer are already taking shape, only the Volume of Strange Tales is proving difficult to find a lead writer for. I wonder if young friend Xia would be willing to condescend to help this old man with this task?"

Xia Dong pondered for a moment and then nodded in agreement. Compiling the county gazetteer came with government subsidies, and it would allow him to openly access the county's secret archives and records of local customs and traditions over the years, which would be immensely beneficial for him to understand the supernatural powers of this world.

In the following days, Xia Dong naturally joined the team compiling the county gazetteer.

Lord He, as the leader of the compilation, gathered renowned scholars from Pingyang County. After passing the imperial examination for scholars, Xia Dong had been practicing martial arts in seclusion and rarely participated in literary gatherings, making him a stranger in this circle. However, his performance soon completely won over these proud scholars.

Moreover, Lord He was very adept at social graces and never mentioned the matter of "Gouchen Ke" to Xia Dong. In this world, although it was common for scholars to write popular novels, doing so openly was still considered "not attending to proper business" and "disgracing one's reputation."

Lord He was intentionally protecting Xia Dong's dignity.

Furthermore, information in this world was extremely scarce. Even the most learned scholars' knowledge was often limited to the classics and the Linyuan Prefecture. But Xia Dong, with his past life experiences, was naturally different.

When discussing legends of "sea monsters" or "drought demons" reported from various villages, Xia Dong could often provide extremely precise and logically sound analyses from the perspectives of geography, hydrology, climate change, and even animal behavior. He quoted classics and cited historical examples with ease, and his profound insights into various strange customs often left the old scholars around him dumbfounded.

In the current view, for someone so young to possess such extensive knowledge meant either having an extremely profound family heritage or having traveled extensively to famous mountains and rivers. Either way, it added a halo of unfathomable depth to Xia Dong.

Xia Dong's reputation quickly spread throughout the scholarly circles of Pingyang County.

However, what truly caused Lord He's attitude towards Xia Dong to subtly shift was not merely his talent, but a top-secret household registration file from the county yamen.

As the chief editor of the gazetteer compilation, Lord He had the authority to access the household registration data of the entire county. While verifying the list of compilation personnel, he accidentally came across Xia Dong's household registration record.

On it, in the identity column for Xia Dong, was a vermilion seal that many old clerks in the county yamen did not understand—Daoist Registry.

Looking at that seal, Lord He gasped, and the hand holding his teacup trembled slightly.

The household registration system in the Great You Dynasty was extremely strict. Ordinary citizens were classified as commoners, artisans, or merchants. Scholars who achieved the rank of Juren or higher could have their direct descendants change their registration to the scholar-official registry, dedicated to farming and studying.

But above this, there was an extremely rare, and even deliberately downplayed, category—the Daoist Registry.

The number of people in the Daoist Registry was more than a hundred times smaller than that of the scholar-official registry. In local county towns, it was rare to find even one in decades. Ordinary people and low-level students had never even heard of it. Only officials like Lord He, who had served at Principal Seventh Rank or higher, had been to the capital, and participated in the operations of the imperial court's central government, had a vague understanding of its astonishing significance.

In the Great You Dynasty's imperial examination system, the papers of Daoist Registry scholars were sealed separately and reviewed separately!

Not only that, but the origin records and source files of all Daoist Registry personnel were not kept locally but were directly sealed in the Bureau of Profound Mysteries in the capital. This meant that individuals with the Daoist Registry often had connections to certain forces beyond the mundane world.

"Who exactly were this young master Xia's parents...?"

Lord He thus keenly realized that Xia Dong's path in the imperial examinations, as long as he didn't mess it up himself, would be smooth sailing, even if his essays were slightly mediocre, due to this special "separate review" channel. His rise to prominence was just around the corner!

Since that day, Xia Dong had clearly noticed a change in Lord He's attitude.

If before Lord He had merely regarded him as a talented young man from his hometown to appreciate, then now, this appreciation was mixed with a deliberate effort to cultivate a relationship and respect.

For example, when the county yamen allocated subsidies for the gazetteer compilation, Lord He would always find various pretexts to give Xia Dong the most generous portion. When introducing eminent scholars from the prefectural city, Lord He did not hesitate to put Xia Dong forward and praise him highly.

Xia Dong held the twenty taels of silver for the gazetteer compilation he had just received, his brow furrowed.

"Why is this old lord so eager towards me?"

He considered himself talented, but he also knew that he was currently just a scholar from a humble background with no connections. He absolutely did not believe he was worthy of a retired capital official making such an effort to befriend him.

But no matter what, Lord He's current goodwill was beneficial and harmless.

Moreover, Xia Dong was now focusing his main energy on the Crane Shadow Step and the county gazetteer.

He discovered something.

In the materials for the county gazetteer, before the establishment of the Great You Dynasty, there were many records of longevity, and not a few instances of people taking immortal herbs and spiritual medicine to extend their lives. Or there were accounts of receiving favor or even repayment from spirits and monsters...

But after the Great You Dynasty was established, even similar records became vague, or even seemed deliberately exaggerated or fabricated.

And among the materials, he also found information about the martial arts in this world.