The second competition was particularly grand. Ordinary people continued to watch the huge crystal outside the Four Saints Palace, while the gentry with official titles were invited into the palace Hall of Rectitude and Harmony in the Zhenghe Hall, where banquets were usually held, to watch an even larger floating crystal.
When Chen Qing and Chen Baifeng arrived, the place was already packed with people. Although it was still better than the hundreds of thousands of people outside the palace gates, there were at least several thousand people in the main hall at a glance.
After Chen Qing and Chen Baifeng found a place to sit down, they began to chat about the current situation.
"Who are these people in this hall? Why do some of them seem to have ability but no spiritual power?" Chen Qing was quite curious about this.
There are no warriors in Cloud Capital, after all, the previous dynasty was overthrown by those warriors who valued mercenaries. This place rejects bloodline families and is the paradise of the oldest sorcerer families. It is said that many sorcerer families in the Central Plains Genesis here.
"Those with spiritual power are mostly from families of sorcerers, and those without are mostly from scholarly families with official titles," Chen Baifeng explained while sipping his tea. " Cloud Capital is different from the outside world; it treats scholars with official titles very well. Even if they are not sorcerers, their status here is not low, and they can receive a certain amount of Dabao Currency every day."
Chen Qing had heard of the " Dabao Currency ". The Dabao Currency of Cloud Capital was made of pure gold. Not only was the workmanship exquisite, but the gold content was also very high. This is why, even though the previous dynasty had been destroyed for thousands of years, the entire Central Plains was still using this kind of coin for transactions. Even after the establishment of the Great Jin, it was still using this coin.
Strangely, although Cloud Capital has no gold mines, according to some observant people, the number of gold coins issued by Cloud Capital over the years is even more than that of several major gold-producing cities in the Great Jin. Given the scarcity of gold mines in the Great Jin Dynasty, Cloud Capital's currency is extremely valuable in the market.
Some even suspect that the Celestial Master Mansion possesses the art of alchemy out of thin air!
Chen Qing didn't quite believe the rumor. Gold was no ordinary material in this world; it was a top-tier resource in the later stages. If jade was the best material for storing energy, then gold was the best material for conducting and outputting energy. In the third version, the concentration of Spirit Energy in the world had reached an unprecedented level, and many things were also very resistant to Spirit Energy. The stronger the power, the more unstable the output.
Materials that could increase output power in the third version were highly sought after, so gold ore was even more valuable than high-grade jade at that time. Naturally, Chen Qing's design wouldn't allow any faction to produce such things in unlimited quantities; otherwise, how could he create mineral resource conflicts?
However, based on the current information, the amount of gold coins flowing out of Cloud Capital is indeed somewhat exaggerated. Where did all this gold come from if there weren't massive gold mines?
He remembered the game map clearly, and he knew the locations of several good gold mines. In any case, such things didn't exist in a place like Cloud Capital, which was mostly plains.
It's impossible to rely on alchemy, right? If that thing came out, it would disrupt the balance. If such a thing really existed, the major guilds would probably swallow up Cloud Capital at any cost. Thinking of this, Chen Qing glanced at Kagura.
Could Kagura's personal visit be to investigate this?
Thinking of this, Chen Qing decided to change the subject and continued, "Since we don't respect the Great Jin here, how are merits calculated?"
"The assessment is conducted according to the previous dynasty's system." Chen Baifeng said with a wry smile, "This is also the biggest conflict between Cloud Capital and Great Jin. Logically speaking, His Majesty is already the ruler of the Central Plains, but Cloud Capital still conducts assessments according to the previous dynasty's system. Great Jin does not recognize the scholars who have passed the assessment, so they can only stay in Cloud Capital and enjoy the benefits."
" The Great Jin doesn't recognize the titles and honors bestowed by Cloud Capital. Over the years, Cloud Capital has issued quite a few titles and honors, hasn't it? Can it sustain the continuous supply of benefits?" Chen Qing asked curiously.
"The requirements for official titles in Cloud Capital are very strict. There are only a limited number of positions available each year, and only those with official titles can hold office in Cloud Capital. Even a minor patrol officer here needs an official title to be appointed. Usually in our Great Jin Dynasty, only the county magistrate, county lieutenant, and county assistant are appointed by people with official titles. But it's different here. Even an ordinary accountant in the government office or a jailer in the prison needs an official title."
Chen Qing curled his lip. Wasn't this just a civil servant from his previous life? Could the productivity of ancient times afford to support civil servants?
"Although these positions may seem lowly, the benefits are quite substantial, with salaries often exceeding those of high-ranking officials in the Great Jin Dynasty. Therefore, they are highly sought after. However, only Cloud Capital, with its vast wealth of gold coins, can afford to maintain such a massive bureaucratic system."
Upon hearing this, Chen Qing curled his lip. Well, we've come full circle.
Feeling that the conversation was going nowhere, I looked at the list displayed in the crystal. The Central Plains families suffered heavy losses this time. The Azure Dragon Gate was completely wiped out, and the White Tiger Gate only had two people advance. Only the Vermilion Bird Gate fared better, as Ziyue let the list through, allowing about a dozen members of the Central Plains families to enter.
Finally, there is the Black Tortoise Gate.
The news about Black Tortoise Gate was the least discussed in the past two days. One reason is that although the gatekeeper Murong Ziyi was a popular choice, her reputation and status were lower than Zhang Zhiyun's. Therefore, people paid more attention to Zhang Zhiyun before the competition.
Afterwards, Ziyue and Zhang Xiaoyun of the Azure Dragon Gate's performance was so exaggerated that it attracted even more attention, while the Black Tortoise Gate was discussed less.
In reality, the gatekeepers of Black Tortoise Gate were very capable. It is said that only two people passed the test. One was a scion of a prominent local family in Cloud Capital, named Shangguan Qingyi. The second was the character that Chen Qing was particularly interested in.
It was Kagura who recommended White Plain, the only player from the North!
"Are those people the so-called Five Color Families?" Chen Qing glanced at a group of people in a corner. They were very conspicuous, and the colors of their clothes were too bright and too distinct.
"Hmm," Chen Baifeng said in a low voice, " The Five Color Families is rumored to be a noble family from the era of the Warlock Dynasty. They have been related to the royal family by marriage for thousands of years and have an Cloud Capital high status. Back then, many sorcerer families left Yundu, but for some reason, the Five Color Families stayed in Cloud Capital and has been obeying the current Zhang Family ever since."
"Obey my orders?" Chen Qing narrowed his eyes. Was that really the case?
On the surface, it seems so; that Murong Ziyi even supposedly received the Zhang Family's Five Thunders Techniques. But is that really the case?
You see, among those participating in this Celestial Master election, he didn't see many from the Five Color Families, resulting in the second round being almost entirely composed of outsiders. This wasn't very appealing. Normally, if someone recognized the position of Celestial Master, shouldn't they actively participate?
Chen Qing was extremely wary of this Celestial Master Trial, but now that so many people had been invited to watch, he figured they wouldn't cause trouble during the event.
Unless they completely disregard the lives of the common people of Cloud Capital and the gentry they have cultivated over the years.
While they were pondering this, dozens of images appeared on the giant floating crystal, each corresponding to one of the nearly twenty groups of contestants.
Chen Qing looked up and saw that most of his little ones were matched up against members of the Central Plains aristocratic families. But that was normal, since the local Cloud Capital members were almost all eliminated in the first round.
However, there are a few exceptions.
For example, Chen Ying was facing off against a local sorcerer named Zhou Yuntao, who was the current generation's White Tiger Sorcerer. The Celestial Master Mansion deliberately arranged for him to face off against Chen Ying, which attracted a lot of attention. At least 70% of the people in the arena immediately looked at that pair.
Then came White Plain, the sole representative of the northern demon forces, who naturally attracted a lot of attention. Her ability to pass through Murong Ziyi speaks volumes about her strength, and the person she faced was none other than Chen Baifeng's most valued child: Chen Ye.
As a representative of the younger generation in the South Sea, Chen Baifeng encountered a representative of the demons from the North. This battle attracted the attention of many aristocratic families in the Central Plains, including Chen Baifeng.