Rules

"I am Lu Mingyue. My respects, Steward Deng!"

Having finally passed the City Patrol Office's assessment and obtained a pass that would let her settle down in Taiping City, Lu Mingyue could not contain her excitement as she bowed to Deng Yuan.

"I hope I can count on your guidance from now on, Steward Deng!"

This Steward Deng's cultivation was stronger than hers by who knew how much, and he appeared to be in charge of the City Patrol Office. He would be overseeing her from now on, so Lu Mingyue naturally had to observe all the outward courtesies.

After all, no one struck a smiling face.

Besides, she was only a young woman.

"Now that you have joined the City Patrol Office, you are under Taiping City's protection. As long as you do nothing that violates Taiping City's rules, the City Patrol Office will protect you, and so will I."

Sure enough, seeing how courteous Lu Mingyue was, how conscientiously she had handled those cultivators' corpses, and how she showed none of a cultivator's arrogance, Deng Yuan's tone softened a little.

"This Identity Token contains all of Taiping City's rules. Once you drip your own life-bound essence blood into it, you can commit them to memory to avoid making mistakes in the future."

"Thank you for the advice, Steward Deng!"

At his words, Lu Mingyue immediately forced a drop of life-bound essence blood from her fingertip and dripped it into the black token in her hand.

In an instant, a unique connection formed between Lu Mingyue and the token, and she could use her divine sense to look inside it.

Sure enough, lines of text appeared within the token as though engraved in empty space. The first was, "Do not rely on the Taiping City Lord's protection to oppress the cultivators and mortals within the city." These were clearly Taiping City's rules.

"The City Lord is truly admirable!"

After briefly scanning the rules, Lu Mingyue voiced her heartfelt admiration, and Deng Yuan naturally agreed with her words.

"Let us discuss the business at hand. You are now a corpse collector for the City Patrol Office, and you can collect a monthly stipend from us, calculated according to the cultivators' corpses you process."

"Processing three hundred cultivators' corpses in a month qualifies for the first tier. If you exceed three hundred, every additional thirty corpses will increase your stipend by ten percent, with the increases stacking accordingly..."

Deng Yuan walked outside as he spoke, and Lu Mingyue naturally followed close behind.

"As mentioned earlier, our City Patrol Office offers three choices for your monthly stipend: pills, magical artifacts, or spirit stones."

"These three resources differ in value. Spirit stones have the highest value, but the price of a single magical artifact may require several months' worth of spirit stones, or even a year's worth, to cover!"

"Since you have only just arrived, I suggest choosing pills first. After all, once your cultivation improves, you will save considerable time processing those cultivators' corpses, leaving you more time to cultivate..."

"As for magical artifacts, I suggest waiting a year before choosing them as your monthly stipend."

"Also, there is something I did not explain earlier. Spirit stones have far too much practical value, so you must serve in the City Patrol Office for a year before you can choose spirit stones as your monthly stipend!"

"This has always been the City Patrol Office's policy. It is not directed at you alone..."

At this point, Deng Yuan paused before telling Lu Mingyue:

"The cultivation method you practice does not seem to be of a high grade. If you wish to pass the assessment and ascend Taiping Mountain, besides pills, magical artifacts, and spirit stones, you can also choose spells, cultivation methods, secret arts, and even formations!"

"Of course, ascending Taiping Mountain is no easy matter. For now, go find somewhere nearby to settle down."

Although Deng Yuan had added a new rule, and Lu Mingyue would actually have to wait a year before she could choose spirit stones as her monthly stipend, she was not dissatisfied.

After all, Steward Deng was right. Her greatest priority at present was to improve her cultivation. The higher her cultivation, the faster she could process those corpses, and the more time she would have each day to cultivate.

As this cycle repeated, all that extra time would be Lu Mingyue's gain.

And even within Taiping City, even if Lu Mingyue broke through to the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining now, it would still take at least a year or so to make some further progress in her Qi Refining Stage cultivation.

Thus, Steward Deng's advice truly could be considered thoughtful of her circumstances.

As for why a magical artifact might require a year's stipend in spirit stones to purchase, yet there was no restriction preventing her from choosing one as her stipend now, Lu Mingyue understood that too.

Magical artifacts required spirit stones to purchase. If she chose a magical artifact, she would receive no spirit stones for at least a year. Would that not suit the Taiping City Lord perfectly?

"Thank you for looking out for me, Steward Deng. I will go find lodgings first, then return to the City Patrol Office to report for duty tomorrow!"

Having worked out the crux of the matter, Lu Mingyue stopped standing on ceremony and thanked Steward Deng openly.

"Go on."

Deng Yuan waved a hand, returned to the hall, and sat down in that chair again.

As soon as Lu Mingyue left the City Patrol Office, she saw the broker waiting for her at a roadside tea stall.

"One look at you tells me you are blessed with great fortune, Fairy. I imagine you have passed the City Patrol Office's assessment. Allow me, Ma Zhuo, to offer my congratulations!"

The broker certainly had a way with words. He had waited for Lu Mingyue for most of the day, yet the first thing he did was congratulate her. Even though Lu Mingyue knew he earned his living through his silver tongue and accommodating manner, she could not help feeling rather pleased.

"Thank you for your kind words, Brother Ma. I did indeed pass the City Patrol Office's assessment. Please take me to look at some nearby courtyard residences!"

"Of course, of course. Please follow me, Fairy!"

While a little of the sun's afterglow still lingered on the horizon, Lu Mingyue followed the broker Ma Zhuo to view several courtyard residences. In the end, she chose a small courtyard property occupying only around a hundred square meters.

Even so, such a small courtyard cost two hundred taels a year in rent, with a minimum of half a year payable up front. That meant one hundred taels!

Had Escort Chief Meng not returned the escort fee he had collected earlier, Lu Mingyue would not have been able to afford it...

"Since you have only just arrived, Fairy, allow this humble fellow a few extra words."

After they signed the rental contract, Ma Zhuo did not hurry away. Instead, he spoke to Lu Mingyue in the courtyard:

"Now that you hold an official post in the City Patrol Office, your monthly stipend will consist of immortal items from the City Lord's own hands. If you ever urgently need money, Fairy, even a single pill refined by the City Lord can be exchanged for ten thousand taels of silver!"

By this point, Ma Zhuo's meaning was perfectly clear.

If Lu Mingyue needed gold or silver, he could help put her in touch with a buyer.

Lu Mingyue was not surprised that a single immortal pill was worth ten thousand taels of silver. After all, it was an immortal's item. Probably only in a place like Taiping City would mortals dare openly name a price to purchase one!