The Division of Secret Realms

After leaving the restaurant, Chu Bai did not linger amid the Prefectural City's glittering nightlife. He went straight to a post station near the government offices and found a quiet room to rest.

Early the next morning.

The Examination Office at the heart of Great Wall Prefecture's Prefectural City was already packed. Many White Ordination cultivators from its subordinate counties had gathered there.

A weighty authority hung over the entire compound. This was a node of the Great Zhou Law Net, and everyone who entered felt its scrutiny, as though walking on thin ice.

Chu Bai entered the hall with a steady stride and an untroubled expression, then handed a sealed document across the counter.

The two clerks handling registration wore official robes of the Subordinate Ninth Rank. Having seen so many so-called "prodigies" from across the prefecture, they were thoroughly bored.

But when one took Chu Bai's document and saw the words "Anping County" and "three years in official service," his careless movements abruptly stopped.

"This... Chu Bai, formerly a Dao Academy Immortal Clerk, appointed to the Demon Slaying Office just over three years ago?"

The clerk looked up as though staring at some impossible monster. His Divine Sense swept over Chu Bai by reflex, and he gave a small cry. "Qi Refining Perfection?!"

The other clerk leaned over and repeatedly checked the county seal and Zhang Cheng's personal signature.

As they understood it, what ordinary cultivator in Great Zhou's officialdom had not spent a dozen years, or even decades, grinding his way from Qi Refining Early-Stage to perfection?

For someone like Chu Bai to climb several levels in three years of service and reach the peak of Qi Refining—neither clerk had heard of such progress even among the Prefectural City's most powerful clans.

Startled as they were, his