Spirit Cauldron Secret Realm

Zhou Yiping—among those surnamed Zhou in the commandery city, there was only the fifth-rank commandery clan, the Golden Scale Light Zhou Family, and the Zhou Family head held the fifth-rank post of commandery guard in Luyang Commandery.

"So this Zhou Yiping should be someone from the Golden Scale Light Zhou Family?"

"Looks like he's rather familiar with Cousin Wang Hui."

"This time, I've really borrowed Cousin's favor."

Liang Zhaohuang watched as the Prefectural Guard searched the shops one by one, but he held no hope at all that they would catch any cultivators from the Commoner's Alliance.

The chaos last night had clearly shown signs of collusion between inside and outside. Before the men of the Prefectural Guard arrived, those people from the Commoner's Alliance had long since withdrawn completely.

Shaking his head, Liang Zhaohuang returned to the shop and closed it again. There would be no business today.

Three quarters before noon, Liang Zhaohuang arrived early at the county yamen in Jin Guan Ward.

At this moment, the guards at the county yamen gate were no longer yamen runners, but had all been replaced by soldiers from the Prefectural Guard.

Liang Zhaohuang stepped forward and explained his purpose. These soldiers had clearly already received instructions; one of them immediately led him into the county yamen, through halls and courtyards, and into a side hall within the yamen.

There was no one in the hall at the moment. The Prefectural Guard merely had him wait there.

Liang Zhaohuang sat down, and someone brought him tea.

After waiting for about two quarters of an hour, a soldier of the Prefectural Guard led another person in. It was a broad and plump middle-aged man, with a wisp of beard beneath his chin combed until it shone. He, too, was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

After the Prefectural Guard soldier left and a servant had served tea, the broad, plump middle-aged man was the first to rise and come over, smiling as he bowed. "Wang Chengen of Little Wang Village greets you, fellow Daoist. May I ask how to address you?"

"Liang Zhaohuang of Liangyuan Village greets Fellow Daoist Wang." Liang Zhaohuang hurriedly rose and returned the courtesy.

At the same time, information about Little Wang Village also came to mind.

Little Wang Village was located in the northeastern corner of Ludong County, extremely remote, bordering another county under Luyang Commandery, Changmao County, as well as Huainan Commandery, another commandery under Yang Province.

It could be said that the place was the junction of three regions—remote, and not one to draw attention. Yet who would have thought that, without a sound or stir, this Wang Family of Little Wang Village had actually produced a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

Moreover, judging by the steady aura around this middle-aged cultivator, he had clearly broken through to the Foundation Establishment realm some time ago, had long since stabilized his cultivation, and had even made further progress.

Thinking about it, Ludong County had gone five hundred years without a humble family breaking through class restrictions, advancing to Ninth-Rank County Magnate, and joining the ruling class. Instead, quite a few families had been wiped out, and the ranks of humble families had changed several times.

Yet this Little Wang Village had quietly and without shock or danger cultivated a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

No matter how one thought about it, this Wang Family was not simple.

"So it is Fellow Daoist Liang!" Wang Chengen seemed to grow even more enthusiastic and said with a smile, "Has Fellow Daoist also come to pay a visit to Guo Zhongzheng and participate in the clan evaluation?"

Liang Zhaohuang's heart stirred slightly at the words, and he nodded. "Fellow Daoist Wang as well?"

"Haha, then this is fate!" Wang Chengen's smile grew increasingly amiable as he said, "Both our families are newly risen, seeking promotion to ninth-rank clans. In the evaluations to come, our two families must look after each other well."

"I will have to ask Fellow Daoist Wang to look after us more." Liang Zhaohuang spoke politely, then shifted the topic and said, "Speaking of which, our Liang Family has only established itself for barely a hundred years. Our knowledge is shallow, and we have only heard that to advance to a clan, one must undergo Zhongzheng evaluation."

"Only, as for how exactly this evaluation is carried out, I'm not very clear."

As Liang Zhaohuang spoke, he looked toward Wang Chengen and said, "I wonder, Fellow Daoist Wang, are you clear on this?"

"Haha... I do happen to know a little." Wang Chengen smiled as he stroked the beard beneath his chin and said, "Has Fellow Daoist Liang heard of the Spirit Cauldron Secret Realm?"

"I seem to have heard of it, but I don't understand it very well," Liang Zhaohuang said with a slight frown.

Wang Chengen stroked his beard and nodded slightly. "Fellow Daoist should know that the spiritual energy between heaven and earth is extremely violent, and is not suitable for direct absorption and refinement. Only after it has been suppressed and cleansed by the Human Way of our Great Jin Immortal Dynasty can it be refined for cultivation."

"But does Fellow Daoist know how our Great Jin Immortal Dynasty suppresses and cleanses this violent spiritual energy?"

As Wang Chengen spoke, he looked at Liang Zhaohuang and asked.

Liang Zhaohuang's heart could not help but stir at the words. "Spirit Cauldrons?"

"Correct!" Wang Chengen nodded and said, "Throughout our Great Jin Immortal Dynasty, whether the capital, provincial cities, commandery cities, or even county cities, all have Spirit Cauldrons suppressing and gathering Human Way fortune to suppress and cleanse the spiritual energy of heaven and earth."

"However, this suppression and cleansing by the Spirit Cauldrons cannot completely eliminate the violent, malignant, and other things within the spiritual energy that are detrimental to cultivation. Instead, they are suppressed and left to accumulate."

"Under the suppression of the Spirit Cauldrons, Spirit Cauldron Secret Realms are formed. Those accumulated violent, malignant things and the like exist within the secret realms, gathering spiritual energy and transforming into all kinds of Spirit Demons."

Wang Chengen explained the origins of the Spirit Cauldron Secret Realms, then continued:

"And the assessment, promotion, demotion, and so forth of ninth-rank clans are usually all completed within these Spirit Cauldron Secret Realms."

"Cultivation families participating in clan assessment send people into these Spirit Cauldron Secret Realms to hunt Spirit Demons."

"You must know, because these Spirit Demons are formed from gathered spiritual energy, after they are hunted, they transform into Spirit Source Ore. To advance to a clan, one must hunt enough Spirit Demons and obtain enough Spirit Source Ore."

"Spirit Source Ore?" Liang Zhaohuang was somewhat puzzled.

Wang Chengen explained, "Spirit Stones can be cut out from Spirit Source Ore!"

"So that's how it is." Liang Zhaohuang nodded slightly, gaining a deeper understanding of the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty and the clan system, while also saying, "So this is where Spirit Stones come from."

Wang Chengen also nodded and said, "At the very least, more than ninety percent of the Spirit Stones in our Great Jin Immortal Dynasty come from the various Spirit Cauldron Secret Realms."

"Many thanks for resolving my confusion, fellow Daoist." Liang Zhaohuang thanked the other man, then asked again, "Fellow Daoist Wang, then I wonder how many Spirit Demons we need to hunt, and how much Spirit Source Ore we need to obtain, before our families can be promoted to Ninth-Rank County Magnate clans?"

"There is no fixed number for that." Wang Chengen stroked his beard and shook his head as he said, "The specific standard for how much Spirit Source Ore is affected by many factors, including the number of families participating in clan assessment, the number of cultivators, as well as the situation of the Spirit Demons within the Spirit Cauldron Secret Realm, and so on."

"Each time, these standards are determined by the Zhongzheng official presiding over the clan assessment according to the circumstances at the time."

"However, as far as I know, among the many Ninth-Rank County Magnates across the more than one thousand counties of the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty, every assessment has required at minimum more than twenty second-tier low-grade Spirit Source Ores and more than a thousand first-tier high-grade Spirit Source Ores."

"Spirit Source Ore is divided into grades too?" Liang Zhaohuang asked, puzzled again.

"Of course!" Wang Chengen said. "You should know that the Spirit Demons in the Spirit Cauldron Secret Realm are also divided by strength. The Spirit Source Ore produced by Qi Refining Realm Spirit Demons is all first-tier Spirit Source Ore, murky and chaotic like stubborn rock; only low-grade Spirit Stones can be cut from it."

"Moreover, even Qi Refining Realm Spirit Demons are divided into early, middle, and late stages, so the Spirit Source Ore they produce is likewise divided into first-tier low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade."

"Generally speaking, first-tier low-grade Spirit Source Ore can yield at most three low-grade Spirit Stones, mid-grade Spirit Source Ore can yield at most six low-grade Spirit Stones, and high-grade Spirit Source Ore can yield at most nine low-grade Spirit Stones."

"By the same principle, second-tier Spirit Source Ore can only be produced by Spirit Demons with the strength of the Foundation Establishment Realm, and it is likewise divided into low, mid, and high grades."

"And the Spirit Cauldron Secret Realms in county-level cities will only produce Spirit Demons of the two tiers, Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment."

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