A citywide search
"Old Huang, stop dredging up ancient history." Wei Cang raised a hand and pressed it down, signaling for him to calm down. "Everyone has their own ambitions. Times have changed. There's nothing wrong with young people wanting to go to a big city.
"Big cities have better resources that let them grow stronger faster. Once they're strong, wherever they kill demonic beasts, they're serving the Dragon Nation. There's no distinction between higher and lower.
"Rather than blaming heaven and everyone else, we should think of a solution. I've considered this for a long time. We'll set aside a separate sum from this year's budget as the 'Jiang City Martial Arts Talent Special Support Fund,' specifically for recruiting and retaining talent."
His gaze swept over them. "Whatever terms the big cities offer, we'll match them. What the big cities can't offer, we'll offer too. In short, we must keep these people here."
"A special fund?" Huang Keming's eyes went round. He stood up and said urgently, "City Lord, it's not as though you don't know what Jiang City has left! Last month, we nearly couldn't pay the salaries at the branch bureaus! Martial artist pensions, maintenance for the high walls-which of those doesn't cost money?
"These people are coming to defend Jiang City, not to live in luxury. When we came to Jiang City back then, forget favorable terms-we weren't even guaranteed a hot meal. Didn't we defend it all the same?"
"Old Huang, times have changed." Shen Ce raised a hand to interrupt Huang Keming. "The City Lord is right. Even if we have to scrape this money out from between our teeth, we have to find it. In another five years, when this bunch of ours can no longer shoulder the burden at all, if there aren't young people to take over, Jiang City really will be gone."
Huang Keming's lips moved, but in the end, he sat back down without another word.
Just then, the council chamber door was pushed open.
A confidential staff officer from the Martial Arts General Bureau strode in, urgency on his face and a report stamped with a red urgent seal in his hand.
He leaned down beside Shen Ce's ear, murmured a couple of sentences, and handed over the report.
For someone to interrupt the meeting to deliver an urgent document, it had to be something major.
Everyone's eyes settled on Shen Ce.
Shen Ce took the report. One glance made his eyes light up, his expression both astonished and delighted, with a trace of dazed disbelief.
"Shen Ce, what is it?" Wei Cang raised an eyebrow and asked.
Shen Ce looked up, steadied his surging emotions, and said, "The preliminary examination results for last night's mimic demonic beast attack in the old district are out. Two adult Shadow Mimic Spiders, each with 1.2 qi and blood and a peak combat power of 2.4, were killed on the spot. There were no civilian casualties at the scene and no record of martial artist reinforcements. It was a solo kill."
His words caused little stir in the council chamber.
Wei Cang merely nodded. They had killed dozens of demonic beasts outside the city last night. Two mimic spiders hardly counted as anything major.
But Shen Ce's next words struck the calm water like a massive boulder.
"The key is the person who killed these two demonic spiders. After repeated verification, the technical team narrowed it down: a Jiang City local, between seventeen and nineteen years old, most likely a high school student."
At once, the eyes of Wei Cang and the other two widened.
Wei Cang asked gravely, "A local? Seventeen to nineteen? Solo-killed two mimic spiders with 2.5 combat power?"
"That's right!" Shen Ce handed over the report. "This kid's peak qi and blood was only 1.3 to 1.4. Throughout the fight, he used the Mountain-Subduing Basic Fist required in high school, but his combat power reached over 5.0."
Wei Cang took the report. After just one read, his fingers tightened around it.
1.3 qi and blood producing 5.0 combat power-a fourfold combat power conversion ratio.
This was a supreme genius in martial techniques.
Never mind Jiang City; there might not be a second one in the entire Dragon Nation.
He set down the report, the weariness in his eyes swept clean away, his voice brimming with excitement. "This is a promising youngster raised right here in Jiang City. We must keep a genius like this. No matter what, we can't let him get away."
"City Lord, I'm just afraid... we won't be able to keep him." Concern colored Shen Ce's voice. "With talent like that, those big cities will absolutely fight over him. With what little Jiang City has, what can we use to compete?"
"What can we use? Everything we can offer."
Wei Cang's words were ironclad, without the slightest hesitation. "As long as we confirm that he has sufficient potential and value, Jiang City will cover everything from this moment on, including his future tuition at a martial arts university, living expenses, and cultivation resources.
"Every cultivation resource he receives at the university, Jiang City will match one for one! After graduation, as long as he's willing to return to Jiang City, we'll keep a deputy director position at the Martial Arts General Bureau open for him for ten years."
At those words, the council chamber immediately erupted.
"City Lord! This is far too hasty!" Huang Keming was the first to stand, his face flushed with agitation. "We haven't even found him yet. His character, whether his temperament is steady, whether he has the heart to defend Jiang City-all of that is unknown!
"And we're just going to promise him a deputy director's position and cover all his cultivation expenses? That's no small sum! If he meets with an accident along the way, or his talent can't keep up, all the money Jiang City invests will be thrown into the water!"
"City Lord, Old Huang has a point," Shen Ce added cautiously. "This really is too hasty. A deputy director of the Martial Arts General Bureau holds a substantive post. He has to lead teams, defend the walls, and fight demonic beasts to the death. He needs to command respect.
"Besides, a genius like this may have an unsettled temperament. If he changes his mind after graduation and refuses to return to Jiang City, there's nothing we can do."
"And there's meridian talent!" Huang Keming immediately added. "Plenty of young geniuses charge ahead fiercely early on, only to collapse when their meridian talent is tested upon becoming a One-Star Martial Artist. They can't even settle on a proper career path and end up as rogue cultivators. At the very least, shouldn't we wait until he's tested his meridian talent before deciding all this?"
Chen Jingshan nodded. "Capital Martial University invests fifty million per student each year, and that's with the Dragon Nation backing it.
"Jiang City only has so much annual revenue. If anything goes wrong, the operation of the entire city could run into trouble. The risk is too great."
At this point, Shen Ce added, "I think everything else is negotiable, but shouldn't we reconsider this deputy director position at the Martial Arts General Bureau?"
Wei Cang watched his old subordinates arguing before him. He wasn't angry, merely silent. Only after they had all finished did he slowly speak.
"I know what you're worried about. But as you've all said, we old fellows can't shoulder this burden for many more years. If there's no one capable of holding the field to take over, who will defend Jiang City's wall?
"Besides, I'm not asking you to issue an appointment letter right now. I'm asking you to prepare in advance. Once we find him, we'll examine his character and temperament. If he's a good prospect, our offer must reach him at the first opportunity. We can't give the big cities a chance to poach him.
"In the past, we were too cautious and too stingy. Time and again, the promising youngsters we had our eyes on were lured away by better offers from the big cities. This time is different. This is Jiang City's own child. We can't miss out again."
The council chamber fell quiet once more.
Huang Keming sighed. "All right. Since you've put it that way, City Lord, I'll find a way to get the money."
Seeing this, Shen Ce smiled to ease the atmosphere. "It's still too early to discuss all this. Our most urgent task is to find him first."
"Exactly." Wei Cang nodded. "Shen Ce, from this moment on, the Martial Arts General Bureau's top priority is to find this kid! The City Defense General Administration and every subdistrict office are to cooperate fully! Within three days, I want to know who this kid is and where he is!"