After sitting for a while, the waiter suddenly came in to report that someone was requesting an audience outside the inn.
You nodded, and after a while, he saw the waiter lead in a Golden Core woman who looked like a manager.
“Zhang Wei, the head of Qinghong City, greets the True Person.” She bowed respectfully in the direction of You You. “The City Lord, upon learning that a Nascent Soul True Person had arrived, specially sent me to welcome the True Person.”
"Pick me up?" You You was taken aback. She had heard some things about the city lord of Qinghong City over the past few days; he was said to be a cultivator at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage. But she didn't know the city lord of Qinghong City, so why would he specifically send someone to pick her up?
"Yes." The steward smiled even more politely. "The 'Holy Spirit Ceremony' of the Jingling Academy is about to begin, and the selection in Qinghong City is also coming to an end. The selected cultivators will be heading to the capital tomorrow to join other cultivators. Therefore, the city lord specifically asked me to come and inform the True Person in order to prevent them from missing the appointed time."
Youyou then realized that the other party had mistaken her for a cultivator selected to participate in the "Holy Spirit Ceremony." What a coincidence! They were just trying to find a way to infiltrate the Respectful Spirit Institute.
"Aren't all cultivators going to the 'Holy Spirit Ceremony' selected first?" She was a little surprised. She had just thought of blending in with those cultivators, but they had missed the registration deadline. The selection registration in Qinghong City had closed a month ago.
"You flatter me, Master." The steward smiled and quickly explained, "The selection process in our city is to select the most outstanding cultivators. As a Nascent Soul cultivator, you are naturally different from others and do not need to participate in the cultivation competitions of other cultivators."
So having Nascent Soul cultivation has such benefits? You You hadn't expected it, but she naturally couldn't miss this opportunity that had come knocking on her door.
"Then I'll have to trouble Steward Zhang." She replied politely, and got up to go to the city lord's mansion with him.
The manager seemed surprised that she was so easy to talk to and left so quickly, so he stepped aside to lead the way.
When Youyou went outside, she discovered that there was a spirit boat parked in front of the inn. Even though the city lord's mansion was less than half a city away, the other party still sent a magic artifact to pick her up. It seems that they really respect and are very polite to Nascent Soul cultivators.
They boarded the spirit boat and went to the city lord's mansion to meet the city lord. The city lord, like the steward, was a polite middle-aged woman. He was extremely pleased to see her. Although his cultivation level was obviously higher than hers, he exchanged pleasantries for a long time. Only when it was getting dark did he tell her to rest well and that they would set off for the capital early the next morning.
You You rested at the City Lord's Mansion for a day, and sure enough, early the next morning, you saw more than a dozen people already waiting in the hall. Two of them were Nascent Soul cultivators, but both were in the early stages of Nascent Soul cultivation, and the other's spiritual energy was not very stable, as if he had only recently formed his Nascent Soul.
Upon seeing You You arrive, both of them were taken aback and quickly stood up to greet her. She had initially adjusted her cultivation level to the mid-Nascent Soul stage, making her, aside from the city lord, the one with the highest cultivation among them, while the other cultivators who were promoted were all at the Golden Core stage.
"I wish you all a safe journey and a bright future!" The city lord didn't waste any more words. Seeing that everyone had arrived, he directly instructed the steward to release the spirit boat and send them out the door.
This spirit boat was different from the one used to pick up You You from the inn last time; it was several times larger, capable of holding at least a hundred people, clearly a high-grade spirit artifact. Although only about ten cultivators were selected this time, each brought servants or family members, so the boat was quite crowded. You You was accompanied by Feng Rong and Yuan Qi, so it didn't seem out of place.
“I heard that Fellow Daoist You arrived in Qinghong City just two days ago. May I ask where you are from? The surname You is quite rare.” A Nascent Soul cultivator greeted him with a smile, and then introduced himself, “I am a cultivator from Dongjiang, which happens to be less than a hundred miles from Qinghong.”
You You glanced back at her, then remembered that the other person's name seemed to be Gu Sixuan, so she replied, "Fellow Daoist Gu, I come from Zhenyan... Town, a small place, quite far from Qinghong, so I was delayed on the way."
"Zhenyan Town?" The other party paused, seemingly unable to recall what that place was, and could only smile and say, "No wonder Fellow Daoist You is late, but with your cultivation level, it doesn't matter if you arrive a little late." Anyway, you can still be selected.
Youyou could only smile.
"By the way, Fellow Daoist Liang Yu happens to be from Qinghong City, which is the most convenient option." Gu Sixuan pointed to the person next to him, who was another Nascent Soul cultivator who had started meditating and adjusting his breathing as soon as he boarded the spirit boat.
"What's wrong with her..." You You turned to look at her and found that her face was unusually pale and she was trying to regulate her breathing, but the spiritual energy around her was not very stable.
"Alas, Fellow Daoist Liang Yu just formed his Nascent Soul a while ago and hasn't had time to go into seclusion to stabilize his cultivation yet." Gu Sixuan sighed, then frowned as if remembering something. "As you know, Fellow Daoist, there are very few high-level cultivators in our Qinghong area. Every selection is a time to showcase the strength of each city. If there are few high-level cultivators, we will naturally be looked down upon by other cities. In addition, the last Holy Ceremony just ended not long ago, and the Jingling Academy does not allow the same person to participate twice. Otherwise, the city lord would love to select a group of the highest-level cultivators and put them together as a team."
He sighed again, seemingly troubled, and then continued after a while.
“I heard that there are also Nascent Soul stage Venerables going to the capital this time. Our Qinghong City’s people are simply not enough. Fellow Daoist Liang Yu is the city lord’s younger sister and is considered the most talented cultivator among the younger generation, so…” She glanced at the person meditating beside her and said, “For the sake of Qinghong City, Fellow Daoist Liang Yu decided to lead the team to the capital before her cultivation was stable.”
"Oh." Youyou understood. It seemed that although everyone was going to participate in the 'Holy Spirit Ceremony,' it was actually a competition to show off strength for each city, and she seemed to have chosen a team that was at the bottom of the rankings.
"The appearance of Fellow Daoist You has relieved the city lord's urgent crisis." Gu Sixuan added with a smile, "Qinghong City now has three Nascent Soul cultivators, so at least it won't lose too much face."
You You nodded, not feeling that this team was beneath them; on the contrary, the more low-key the team, the more advantageous it was for them. It would take several more days to reach the capital, and during these days, the cultivator named Liang Yu had been adjusting his breathing to stabilize his cultivation, and his complexion had improved considerably.
It wasn't until three days later that they arrived at the capital of Crimson Star Kingdom. Seeing the cultivators selected from other cities, You You finally understood why Gu Sixuan had said it would be shameful not to have any Nascent Soul cultivators.
The Crimson Star Kingdom holds talent selection events in ten cities. Aside from those selected from Azure Rainbow City, the minimum cultivation level for those selected from the other cities is Nascent Soul cultivator, and even the capital city has a Deity Transformation stage cultivator among them. Compared to that, their seven or eight Golden Core cultivators are indeed somewhat lacking.
Everyone clearly felt the strange looks that the other cultivators were giving their group.
They stayed in the capital for another three days until all the people from the various cities had arrived, and then, led by the Venerable One of the Transformation Realm, they set off together for the Respectful Spirit Temple.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
