Chapter 3 The cheap system ruined me; he can apply for a seven-day no-questions-asked refund...
After four consecutive rounds of intense battles, even an iron man couldn't withstand such torment. So, Fu Ming led his newly recruited underlings back to his own mountain in great glory.
Yes, he did indeed own a mountain called Changliu Mountain. However, it had neither a luxurious palace nor gold and silver treasures, and only two or three dilapidated houses, indicating that his living conditions were extremely harsh and simple.
Fu Ming waved his hand and issued the highest order: If you want a place to live, build it yourself.
This money-saving measure brought him unexpected joy. "Preventing the Second Immortal-Demon War" and "Promoting the Spirit of Hard Work" added 15 and 5 points to his character value respectively, and now he is only one step away from passing.
Watching the demonic cultivators sweating as they built their shelters, Fu Ming unconsciously stroked his sword sheath, lost in thought.
"System, now explain all the rules to me, especially your conduct value and penalties, without missing anything."
Having been tricked by the system several times, Fu Ming spoke seriously. He had learned his lesson and deliberately set aside free time to wait for the system to provide information when the signal was stable. He didn't want to be tripped up by his own "golden finger" at a crucial moment.
"Okay, let me introduce the basic functions of our grassroots civil servant system to you. If you're interested, you can place an order online, dear~"
"The grassroots civil servant system is a modern civil servant training system that takes serving the people as its guiding ideology, uses character and performance as its assessment targets, and includes poverty alleviation, environmental protection, and social harmony as its objectives."
Fu Ming recalled that before his transmigration, he had failed the civil service exam five times in a row. It wasn't because of any intellectual deficiency, but rather because his methods were too unconventional, such as mocking his unreasonable and uncooperative fellow villagers.
His friend at the time commented: "It's a blessing for the whole nation that you didn't pass the civil service exam."
However, he still accumulated many practical test-taking skills and immediately grasped the key information from the long introduction.
What are the specific rules for this assessment?
"There will be a regular assessment every month, which only checks whether your conduct value has reached 60. However, if you break through your cultivation level, there will be a major assessment, which will consider both your conduct value and merit value, dear."
"Oh, right, if you pass the assessment, you'll receive rewards such as cultivation resources based on your evaluation level. If you fail, the difficulty of your tribulation will increase proportionally."
"Given that you are a demonic cultivator, the mortality rate during your tribulation will increase to 100% after the difficulty level is raised, dear."
"...I understand. So how are merit points calculated?"
"Completing tasks will earn you merit points, meow! Ding-dong, searching for tasks in nearby areas..."
"Query failed. Tasks in this area are not currently available."
"Searching..."
"Query failed. This area is an illegal area and is not within the service area."
...
The cheap system froze several times, so to prevent it from crashing, Fu Ming decisively changed his questioning method.
"Alright, stop searching. Just tell me where the most recently opened mission areas are, what missions are available, and what the content and rewards are."
The system took a long time to load before it finally responded.
"Beep beep, we have detected more than 30 missions near the Tianyan Sect, which is 1,500 miles away from you. These missions cover poverty alleviation, environmental protection, and social harmony, with difficulty levels ranging from one to five stars. Don't miss them!"
“Change to another one.” Fu Ming refused decisively.
"Getting close to moral exemplars will give you bonus points for conduct and merit, don't you really want to consider it, dear?" The system added awkwardly at the end.
"Uh, according to the AI calculation, the highest merit points you can get in other areas this month will not reach the minimum requirement of 30 points."
Is this really a cheat code or some kind of punishment system designed to harm him? Fu Ming sighed, rubbing his forehead.
Found it.
It took Fu Ming three hours to listen to the system's various sales pitches and promotional tactics to introduce the task, and another hour to pick and choose from them.
He wouldn't mediate neighborhood disputes, because unfortunately, both parties had a grudge against him; he wouldn't protect rare and endangered medicinal herbs, because these herbs take a hundred years to grow from seed, and besides, where would he find them? He wouldn't help with poverty alleviation for disaster victims on the border, because the target number was a full 100,000.
In the end, he finalized three tasks that could be completed incidentally and also allow him to get closer to Xiao Huaiyuan, each rewarding him with 10 merit points.
First, one must become a disciple of the Tianyan Sect and accumulate reputation, which is equivalent to obtaining a formal position in the cultivation world. Second, one must handle the attack on a minor sect affiliated with the Tianyan Sect by a beast tide and resolve the urgent needs and concerns of the people. The requirements for the third task are rather vague, with only three question marks, but it is followed by a 25-day countdown, so this one was chosen.
Fu Ming took out a long-forgotten map of the Immortal Realm. He had found it on the corpse of a fellow Daoist during his exile. Although he had only dug a hole for him on the spot, at least he was able to give him a proper burial.
The edges were worn, but the direction was still roughly discernible. Climbing out of the Demon Abyss and heading north for two hundred miles would lead to Yongcheng on the border, and another five hundred miles would take you to the Tianyan Sect.
So how could he infiltrate the ranks of righteous cultivators? Fu Ming decided to create a disguised clone and join the Tianyan Sect.
Having roamed the martial world for many years, Fu Ming knew a few moves from various martial arts styles. To him, the righteous path and the demonic path were merely two diverging paths of cultivation, with no distinction of superiority or inferiority—after all, most demonic cultivation techniques did not require the consumption of people.
His original appearance was too sharp and needed some adjustments. Round his face, round his eyes, shorten his height by a few inches, and cover the demonic lines between his brows with makeup... Hmm... something doesn't seem right.
Just as the straight man Fu Ming was fixing his disguised face in front of the mirror, a mechanical voice suddenly popped into his mind. Seeing that he was enjoying himself, the system said something in a low voice.
"Wake up, host! If your subordinates keep cutting down bamboo, they'll lose points for damaging the environment."
...
Those who practice demonic cultivation are inherently a group of desperate outlaws. Although they have submitted to Fu Ming, they don't really get along. Even when it comes to hard labor like building houses, they compete fiercely to see who is superior.
The three burly men who had jumped out to launch a sneak attack that day, whom Fu Ming categorized as having a screw loose, were also fiercely vying for the bamboo pole.
Looking up, he saw a handsome young man with delicate features but a fierce aura standing silently in front of him.
"Holy crap, who is this? Is he the gigolo the Venerable One is keeping?"
With a bang, terrifying demonic energy spread out in an instant, rushing over a hundred miles away, causing the crows on the bamboo to flap their wings and fly far away, crying mournfully.
The demonic cultivators, who had been working hard, felt a sudden dizziness. When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves gathered in one of the only two decent halls besides the Demon Lord's own residence.
The boy, even more effeminate than a pretty boy, chuckled eerily.
"From now on, you will need to spend merit points to access the resources here. I will issue tasks regularly, and you will only gain merit points by completing the tasks. Do you understand?"
Everyone shivered.
Fu Ming nodded in satisfaction, thinking to himself, "Thank you for the inspiration from the system."
Everyone has their own expertise, and professional tasks should be left to professionals. Fu Ming sought out the former Demon Minister who was recuperating in bed. This man's real name was Fang Yize, and he had hundreds of years of experience as the Demon Minister. He was likely very skilled at managing the administrative affairs of his subordinates.
As expected, as soon as Fu Ming proposed the initial idea of merit points, Fang Yize immediately came up with several feasible solutions, proving himself to be a rare high-level talent in the Demon Realm. However, the title "Demon Minister" was rather unlucky and not very modern, so Fu Ming was delighted and bestowed upon him the name "Administrator Fang."
After much beating around the bush, Fang Zhengxing suddenly inquired about Yi Rong Fu Ming's identity at the end.
Who was that person just now?
Fu Ming adopted the airs of a demon lord, coldly dismissing the matter with a "not important" remark.
The nights in the Demon Realm are always windy and high-flying. Taking advantage of the demon cultivators' deep sleep, Fu Ming, in his clone form, shouldered his pack and headed towards the Immortal Realm, his destination being his sect, which he knew all too well before.
Tianyan Sect, I'm back.
At this moment, the disciples of Tianyan Sect, whose faces had been tense ever since the war between immortals and demons began, finally had a chance to relax. They gathered in small groups in the training ground, whispering to each other, finally showing some of the liveliness and vigor of youth.
"Have you heard? The Demon Lord is dead, and the new Demon Lord is called Fu Ming."
"What talismanic resonance?"
"Are you stupid? Who else could it be... the one who was ranked number one on the Heavenly Ranking but can no longer be mentioned?"
The disciple looked around, and only when he saw that no one was around did he dare to whisper the rest of the sentence. At that moment, a cool breeze suddenly swept by, sending a chill down everyone's spines and making them shiver for no reason.
Those whose names are recorded on the Heavenly Ranking have always been a topic of conversation among the disciples of the Heavenly Evolution Sect, but there is one person who cannot be spoken of. When the situation is at its most tense, anyone caught by the disciples of the Punishment Peak discussing this person will be interrogated for several days before being released.
"I saw him come to do errands when I was still a handyman. He seemed pretty easygoing. I never expected him to..."
A slightly older, leisurely disciple of Xiaofeng recalled.
During wartime, cultivators below the Golden Core stage die quickly, and the disciples within the peak have changed several times. Among this group, he is probably the only one who has ever interacted with Fu Ming.
"Hey, hey, hey, what are you all doing gathered here? Well, you dare to plead for a traitor!"
A short, stout male cultivator, resembling a winter melon, suddenly squeezed into their midst. He immediately began shouting in a voice that sounded like a rooster's crow, causing the scattered disciples around to turn around and cast a series of questioning glances at him.
"That person is eccentric by nature, obsessed with martial arts, and comes from a humble family. What's so strange about him fleeing to the Demon Realm in order to break through?"
"Then why did he agree to a ceasefire? Senior Brother Xiao said they made a vow against their inner demons, how could they be as ruthless as you say?"
"Hmph, I was just trying to lower your guard, you fools. I bet ten thousand spirit stones that the new Demon Lord will definitely start another war within a month."
"Let's bet! Who's afraid of who? Chen Cheng, don't try to act tough just because your family has a lot of people on the Refining Peak!"
It was one thing for them to look down on cultivators of commoner origin, but this short, fat cultivator named Chen Cheng was spewing vulgarities, which the eldest sister among them simply couldn't stand. Being young and hot-tempered, the two immediately made a bet, ready to teach each other a lesson a month later.
There are countless martial arts arenas of this size in the Tianyan Sect, and each one is bustling with activity, with shouts and curses flowing like streams converging into a vast ocean.
The sect leader of Tianyan Sect has been in seclusion for a long time, and the elders are not involved in worldly affairs. Therefore, Xiao Huaiyuan, the most powerful cultivator of the new generation who has already reached the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, has temporarily taken over the sect leader's worldly affairs.
Xiao Huaiyuan stood on the main hall's terrace and looked out. Outside the window was a desolate autumn scene, with yellow leaves and frost. In another half month, the last leaves would fall, and then it would be deep winter.
He could vaguely sense that a soaring resentment was permeating all parts of the immortal realm, and if left unchecked, it might lead to a great disaster.
In the oppressive stillness, only one person remains unbound by rules and regulations. Senior brother, will you be the key to breaking this deadlock?
"Greetings, Senior Brother Xiao."
The visitor's respectful greetings interrupted Xiao Huaiyuan's thoughts.
Xiao Huaiyuan hummed in response and asked, "Junior Brother Hu, what urgent matter do you have to discuss with me?"
Perhaps due to his personality, Xiao Huaiyuan rarely smiled, and his disciples were always on edge, far from the harmonious relationship he had with his senior brother in the past.
"The people from the Respectful Affairs Hall say that now that you, Senior Brother, have reached the Nascent Soul stage, why don't you start selecting personal disciples this year..."
He asked, "Did they say anything else?"
Junior Brother Hu lowered his head awkwardly, not daring to meet his gaze.
"Yes, there is... The manager of Jingshitang said that the young master of the Chen family and the young lady of the Gu family are both very talented and hope to introduce them to you, but I think..."
"Since the younger generation are all so talented, I can't bear to give up on any of them. So let's adopt a competition to select the best disciples this time."
Xiao Huaiyuan stood against the light, his expression unchanged for years, but Junior Brother Hu clearly felt that he was angry.
A note from the author:
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