Chapter 8

More than half an hour later, after the Supreme Dao Sect's elders completed their inspection, the alarm was lifted.

People gradually emerged from the various sect outposts and school grounds.

The owner of a flying sword painting shop, delayed by some matter, returned to find several people loitering outside his door.

Huh? Is business coming my way?

But when he saw the scene inside the shop—especially the several people standing beside the computer, from which leaked sounds unsuitable for public playback—

Who the hell touched the computer! …………

Xu Xing, who caused all this, had already exchanged spiritual stones for some of this era's currency and was preparing to rent a place to stay.

In the city center, a dozens-of-floors-tall tower bore large characters on its side—【Xiang Jianzong—Miscellaneous Affairs Hall】.

Jianzhou is the largest prefecture under the Xiang Jianzong's jurisdiction; Xuanjian City hosts a branch of the Xiang Jianzong's Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, specifically for handling such matters.

Accommodations rented through the Xiang Jianzong's Miscellaneous Affairs Hall are relatively expensive, but they offer simple procedures and extremely fast processing.

At the entrance stood two guards: one carried a long sword on his back, the other had a spinning sword pellet hovering beside him.

Both were Jin Dan cultivators, wearing white jade plaques at their waists—signifying they were external disciples of the Xiang Jianzong.

It looked rather abstract.

The flow of people in and out was considerable, yet Xu Xing's entry drew no attention.

As one of the Qidaxian Sect, the Xiang Jianzong possessed absolute confidence—no one would dare cause trouble within its grounds, even at a branch like this Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.

It was only because of the recent clash between Xiao Ning True Person and the demonic cultivators that they had deployed two Jin Dan sword cultivators as guards to maintain appearances.

The interior layout of the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall resembled the administrative halls in Xu Xing's memory: a massive Xuanlight Mirror hung above, with information flashing rapidly across its surface.

Most staff behind the service counters were only Qi Condensation or Foundation Establishment cultivators; only one or two were Jin Dan—young cultivators, all of them. One area was brightly labeled—【Xiang Jianzong Cultivator Internal Passage】.

This was a small perk for Xiang Jianzong cultivators.

Since no one was around, Xu Xing walked straight over and produced a blue jade plaque.

"Hello, I'd like to rent a residence."

The attendant here was a girl who looked about Zhang Yunlu's age, one of the few Jin Dan cultivators here, an external disciple of the Xiang Jianzong.

【Name: Zuo Yuning】

【Realm: Jin Dan】

"Understood, please wait a moment—I need to verify your identity first."

Zuo Yuning took the blue jade plaque and inserted it into a device resembling a card reader. Soon, several lines of text and a photograph appeared on the computer screen.

【Name: Xu Sandao】

【Realm: Nascent Soul】

【Position: External Silutang Administrator】

The information was simple enough—cultivation was a private matter, and the sect didn't investigate its disciples deeply. But… Xu Sandao?

Wait, Uncle, as a Nascent Soul sword cultivator of the Xiang Jianzong, is this name really appropriate?

After mentally scoffing, she confirmed the face matched the photo, then pulled out a boxy device with a thumb-sized indentation in the center.

"Please, Uncle, channel a trace of magic power to confirm your identity."

Xu Xing nodded and sent a thread of magic power from the Grand Void Sword Scripture at the Nascent Soul realm level.

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

Huh?!

Why isn't it responding? It never delays like this! She stood up and slapped the computer twice, offering Xu Xing an apologetic smile: "Sorry to trouble you to wait a bit longer, Uncle."

Please don't malfunction now—she didn't want any issues on such a quiet post.

Thump! Thump!

Finally, text appeared on the screen.

"Verification passed." She exhaled in relief, her face regaining its professional smile: "Alright, Uncle, do you have any specific requirements for your residence?"

"Just quiet and spacious."

After reviewing options, she quickly handed Xu Xing a file.

"How about this one? Located near a spiritual vein node, with abundant spiritual energy. And as a Silutang Administrator, you qualify for a thirty percent rent reduction."

Xu Xing glanced at it casually: "Fine, I'll take this one."

Hearing his agreement, Zuo Yuning pulled three small wooden plaques and a certificate from her drawer, returning them along with the blue jade plaque.

"This is the array core. Take it to the payment counter, and someone will escort you there."

"Thank you."

With a bow, Xu Xing turned and left.

Watching him walk away, Zuo Yuning sat down and tapped the magic power verification device.

In the Cultivation World, disguises were never lacking—not just appearance, even magic power aura and soul fluctuations could be faked.

But this new magic power verification system was linked to the Supreme Ancestral Sword—no cultivator could conceal their true magic power essence before the Ancestral Sword. It should have responded instantly, with zero delay.

Thump! Thump!

After two more slaps, she deemed it sufficient and returned the device to its place.

Her master always said: if something breaks, hit it twice. If it still doesn't work, then it's truly broken.

…………

Evening arrived, thick clouds blanketing the entire sky, occasional muffled thunder rolling—this rain would be heavy.

The Central Continent was vast beyond measure; Jianzhou alone equaled the combined surface area of dozens of the previous life's blue stars, so Xuanjian City sprawled across an area rivaling the largest provinces of the previous life.

The city's most famous residential district featured neatly arranged three-story villas, their interiors exquisitely designed.

Xu Xing had already signed the contract and now held the small wooden plaque-style array core, gently touching it forward.

Buzz~ Ripples spread through the air in ring after ring, and the formation covering the entire villa opened a passage.

This was a rather crude Bewildering Spirit-Gathering Formation—about all it could stop was small animals like cats, dogs, mosquitoes, ants, and mice.

Even a Qi Refining cultivator could brute-force it open.

"Inside it's also equipped with an alchemy room, a refining room, a spiritual spring, a quiet chamber fitted with Clarity Incense, and every other kind of entertainment and leisure facility you could want."

"Most importantly, this place is under the protection of the Xiang Jianzong—even that demonic cultivator today didn't dare make a move against it."

Overall it was about the same as the cave dwelling he'd rented before his closed-door cultivation, but the comfort level far surpassed what he'd had back then.

"I'll improve the formation later, so no one wanders in by accident."

Walking into the villa, Xu Xing strolled around. Embedded in the walls of every room were several diamond-shaped crystals—the formation 'base' of the array 'air-conditioner.'

Those too were creations of the Holy Sovereign Abyss, able to regulate the temperature within a certain range, but with neither a very low lower limit nor a very high upper limit, so they were classified as auxiliary-type formations.

After a full circuit, he walked over to the enormous floor-to-ceiling window and watched bean-sized raindrops fall, the flowers and plants in the garden swaying with the wind.

He looked up at the sky—Lei Guang flickered, and a storm was about to break.

Suddenly!

A fist seal shot up into the heavens from afar, striking dead-on the heavy dark clouds overhead.

In an instant, amid the blinding light, the thick dark clouds had been 'squeezed' to the edges, like a grey painting with a circular blank space erased out of its middle by a rubber.

On a television switched on nearby, a construction crew was being interviewed.

"Because construction requires it, we've decided to alter the weather over a small area. This action has already been approved by the Xiang Jianzong's Miscellaneous Affairs Hall. We hope no cultivators will imitate it."

In the footage, a figure in the distance slowly withdrew his fist—presumably the one responsible.

These days, civil engineering is a bit fierce.

(End of chapter)