Chapter 440: 439. Chapter 434: Better Go Become an Official

439. Chapter 434: Better Go Become an Official

Tianjie Square.

A black-faced man in a plain immortal robe, dusty and worn, with deep lines of hardship etched across his brow, strode over quickly.

This was Ding Huan, freshly disguised.

Ding Huan, who had trained in Tianjie, knew well: the simplest way to rise in this world was to train within the Immortal Court.

Changing locations wasn't impossible, but it wasted far too much time, and setting up a Hidden Spirit Immortal Array required stealth—get caught, and you'd be buried in trouble.

Here, the celestial and immortal qi was thick, and the cosmic laws were crystal clear.

Most importantly, in this place, once you had an official identity—even as a servant—you could freely cultivate with immortal qi.

Within the range from Tianjie to Tianjie Square, you could absorb immortal qi however you liked, without excess.

Not to mention the Hidden Spirit Immortal Array—even without it, absorbing more qi here drew no attention.

After all, everywhere in this place were the powerful.

The saying "the greatest concealment lies in the marketplace" applied perfectly here.

Ding Huan didn't need to fake a weathered aura—he'd lived too much to need pretense.

As for making himself black-faced, it was because Ding Huan feared Bu Bu Yingyin.

He Lian Aodong said this woman was a lustful worm; he naturally couldn't disguise himself as a handsome man. If she took a fancy to him, he was finished.

She'd conspired with her lover to kill her own husband—killing an outsider would be no more than a blink to her.

In truth, Ding Huan had underestimated Bu Bu Yingyin.

No matter how lustful Bu Bu Yingyin was, she had taste. Whoever caught her eye—man or woman, old or young, beautiful or ugly, fat or thin—she accepted without exception.

Whoever failed to impress her—even Pan An himself—she wouldn't even glance at.

Bu Bu Yingyin didn't want Ding Huan because he was handsome; she wanted him because his understanding of the Five Elements' laws was utterly unprecedented.

Ding Huan came to Tianjie Square to see if the Immortal Court was hiring clerks.

If they were, he'd apply; if not, he'd consider other options.

Since it wasn't a major festival, Tianjie Square held few people—only a hundred or so.

Ding Huan's gaze landed on several array screens at the square's edge; the largest screen remained the Immortal Court Contribution List.

Last time, Ding Huan hadn't paid attention to this list; now he noticed that He Lian Aodong's recommended Feng Qianli was indeed on it.

Feng Qianli wasn't just on it—he ranked high, at 101st.

This wasn't the Heavenly Gang or Earthly Sha list; this list had ten thousand names. Feng Qianli was nearly in the top hundred—he had real skill.

Ding Huan turned his gaze to the Clerk Recruitment Office.

The Clerk Recruitment Office at Tianjie Square was sizable—a large building.

The building stood at the edge of Tianjie Square, oddly out of place.

Ding Huan walked over quickly.

Dozens of people were already studying the recruitment array screens outside, which listed which departments needed what positions.

Compared to Tianjie's recruitment, this seemed more formal.

Ding Huan scanned it: eleven positions, roughly twenty hires needed.

Seeing only dozens of people gathered before the recruitment boards, Ding Huan was puzzled—this competition didn't seem fierce.

Was it because Immortal Court official posts were too hard to hold, so most avoided applying? Or was it, as Ku Lu had said, that these positions were already pre-assigned?

Either way, he'd give it a try.

Position: Immortal Mine Captain of Muwu Mountain—applicants may enter interview.

Fourth War Records Office of the Immortal Court needs two Record Keepers—requires Level Two Immortal Array Master or higher, with Immortal Array Master credential plaque…

Immortal Law Office seeks one Legal Officer—must have memorized the Nine Courts' Laws.

…

Ding Huan read from top to bottom—none suited him.

It wasn't that no positions suited him; in fact, most did—but he couldn't take any of them.

For example, becoming a Legal Officer meant constant exposure to public divine senses—he wouldn't be hiding his cultivation, he'd be walking straight to death.

As for Record Keeper? No personal time at all—was he really going to become an official just to be an official?

Looks like he'd still have to go to the Immortal-Beast Warfront? He didn't know if Du Yue Xunjun, that old bastard, had returned—if he had, Ding Huan might as well head to the Chaos Zone.

Just as Ding Huan was about to leave, two new positions suddenly appeared at the very top of the array screen, each marked with an "Urgent."

First Immortal Agriculture Department urgently needs one Immortal Plant Officer—must be proficient in Immortal Spirit Rice cultivation.

Second Immortal Medical Department urgently needs one Immortal Physician—must be proficient in treating all types of Immortal Plant diseases.

Whether Immortal Agriculture or Immortal Medical Department, both belonged to the Thirty-Six Departments.

Ding Huan looked at these two positions and quickly guessed what had happened.

The Immortal Spirit Rice in the Agriculture Department was about to ripen—but something had gone wrong; they'd likely fail their quota, so they urgently needed someone to replant.

Replanting Immortal Spirit Rice didn't require hiring new people—existing staff could do it.

Hiring now served two purposes: first, if the rice was successfully replanted, all was well.

If the rice couldn't be replanted, no matter—it provided a scapegoat. Just push out the new hire, and everything would be resolved.

Ding Huan was certain the Immortal Spirit Rice's illness was extremely hard to cure—the Agriculture Department had already appealed to the Medical Department.

The Medical Department couldn't cure it either, so they too were hiring to find a scapegoat.

Truly an eye-opening sight.

Though aware of the darkness behind it, Ding Huan still decided to apply—for the Immortal Plant Officer position.

Over eighty percent of Immortal Plant diseases stemmed from problems with the Growth Law.

For Ding Huan, as long as it's a matter of laws and rules, it's no big deal.

The remaining twenty percent is insect damage or other factors. Insect damage that could stump the entire Immortal Medical Department is naturally no ordinary insect damage.

The likelihood of other factors is small—after all, this concerns the assessment of the entire Immortal Agriculture Department, and no one would secretly sabotage themselves.

This is also why Ding Huan doesn't want to apply to the Immortal Medical Department. If it's because he can cure insect damage, then he'd be running around to various immortal spirit rice planting sites every day to treat them—would he ever have time for himself?

Ding Huan walked into the Official Recruitment Office. It was very spacious inside.

A huge arrow floated in the void, pointing to the far right side of the first floor.

Ding Huan had already seen it—that should be where the interviews were held.

Although there were several dozen people outside waiting for the recruitment information to change, none of them came in to apply.

Ding Huan walked to the interview area. There were several rooms here, each with recruitment information for a certain position hanging outside.

Ding Huan walked into the Immortal Plant Official recruitment room. A square-faced man sat inside.

The square-faced man was surprised to see someone come in so quickly and gave Ding Huan a look.

"Sir, hello. My name is Lu Renjia. I want to apply for the position of Immortal Plant Official. I'm well-versed in immortal spirit planting. For the previous thirty-plus thousand years, I was almost entirely tending to various immortal spirit plants." Ding Huan sat down and got straight to the point.

He had indeed planted fields before, but that was all during school-organized activities back on Earth, lasting at most a day or two.

The square-faced man sized Ding Huan up from head to toe, then tapped his own ring with his hand.

Ding Huan knew the other party wanted a bribe. He had also prepared a hundred thousand high-grade immortal crystals.

However, for this position, he had no intention of paying a bribe.

This position was clearly meant to find a scapegoat. He was already coming to be a scapegoat—why should he give a bribe to this guy?

Seeing that Ding Huan didn't react, the square-faced man frowned: "Have you ever planted immortal spirit rice? How was the harvest?"

Ding Huan bragged without hesitation: "I have. The harvest was very good—excellent immortal spirit rice, in fact."

The truth was, Ding Huan didn't know that immortal spirit rice was divided into upper, middle, lower, and supreme grades. Otherwise, he would have mentioned the grade.

"Mm, how many mu did you plant?"

"About one... a hundred-plus mu, I suppose."

Ding Huan had originally wanted to say over ten thousand mu, but considering it was a bit exaggerated, he cut it down on the spot to a hundred-plus mu.

"That many?"

Even the square-faced cultivator was stunned by Ding Huan's words. One person planting over a hundred mu of immortal spirit rice?

Ding Huan knew he had overstated things. He smiled and said: "I planted it for my clan back then, and it wasn't just me alone..."

"Then you probably don't quite meet the requirements." As the square-faced cultivator spoke, he turned his ring again.

"Since I don't meet the requirements, then forget it." Ding Huan stood up without hesitation.

You want me to take the fall, and you still want a bribe? Dream on.

"Wait, we're in urgent need of people right now. If you pull some connections, I can help you out too." Seeing that Ding Huan couldn't take a hint, the square-faced cultivator could only spell it out.

Ding Huan looked at the square-faced cultivator blankly: "Sir, you're willing to help me pull connections? I don't have a single immortal crystal on me right now—otherwise I wouldn't have come out looking for work."

Hearing that Ding Huan was a pauper, the square-faced cultivator couldn't be bothered to keep extorting. He took out a jade token and tossed it to Ding Huan: "Imprint your own mark on it, then go report in yourself."

"Alright." Ding Huan took the identity jade token, imprinted his mark on it right in front of the square-faced cultivator, then turned and left.

The square-faced cultivator's face turned livid with rage. He now understood—Ding Huan simply didn't want to pay a bribe.

But thinking that Ding Huan was just a sacrificial lamb, he finally felt a bit more balanced inside.

……

The Immortal Agriculture Department was still relatively far, but of the thirty-six departments, aside from a very few, they were all around the Immortal Court's vicinity. No matter how far, it wouldn't be too outrageous.

Ding Huan didn't take a teleportation array. He directly brought out his mid-grade flying immortal artifact. He refused to believe his luck was that bad—that even on this short flight, he'd be spotted by Star Lord Duyue.

The speed of a mid-grade flying immortal artifact was still decent. Ding Huan reached the Immortal Agriculture Department in just half a day.

He swiped his identity token. The moment he entered the Immortal Agriculture Department's protective array, dense immortal spiritual energy swept over him.

Ding Huan breathed a sigh of relief. He'd finally found the right place.

The immortal spiritual energy here was perfect for his cultivation. If he set up a gathering-immortal-spirit array on top of this, he could advance to Jin Xian Level Seven in minutes.

Looking at the ancient, unadorned buildings before him, Ding Huan walked in.