Chapter 262

After the interrogation ended, the bald monk was taken away and sent to the Dao Prison.

Mo Hua asked Zhang Lan: "Uncle Zhang, was the bald monk telling the truth?"

Zhang Lan paused thoughtfully, then said slowly: "The first part was true, but the rest is unclear—probably half-truth and half-lie. This man is cunning; his words can't be fully trusted."

Mo Hua nodded.

He definitely concealed something about the map.

But what the map was connected to remained unclear—there were too few clues, and Mo Hua had no leads.

"Should we question the one-eyed one again?" Mo Hua said.

He remembered there was another one-eyed cultivator among the criminal cultivators, somewhat of a leader, who might know more.

"Alright, I'll interrogate him when I have time. You go back for now—this interrogation chamber isn't a good place."

Zhang Lan waved his hand in front of his nose, as if trying to fan away the stench.

"Mm."

Mo Hua also found the smell unpleasant; staying too long made him feel oppressed, so he prepared to leave.

Zhang Lan suddenly added: "I'll come find you in a few days."

Mo Hua turned back, puzzled. "Why are you coming to find me?"

"Forgot?" Zhang Lan winked at Mo Hua. "We agreed that once we caught the bald monk, Dao Ting Si would give you a reward."

Mo Hua's eyes lit up. "What kind of reward?"

"You'll find out in a few days."

Zhang Lan was still keeping it a secret.

A few days later, Zhang Lan indeed came to find Mo Hua and handed him a silk pouch.

Mo Hua opened it and saw inside a bronze plaque.

The material wasn't precious, nor did it seem like a spiritual artifact; its design looked ancient and crude, stiff and dull.

"That's it?" Mo Hua felt a small disappointment.

He had expected Dao Ting Si to give him some spell, cultivation technique, pill, or array.

Zhang Lan frowned. "What do you mean 'that's it'? Do you even know what this is?"

Mo Hua shook his head.

"This is Dao Ting Si's waist token!"

Mo Hua's mouth dropped open. "Isn't the official waist token only given to Dao Ting Si cultivators?"

"Correct," Zhang Lan nodded. "So yours isn't official."

Mo Hua blinked. "Fake?"

Zhang Lan sighed. "Non-registered."

"Oh." Mo Hua understood.

Official Dao Ting Si cultivators—from the lowest Zhisi and Diansi up to the Vice Zhangsi and Zhangsi—must pass examinations to be accepted.

The exams are strict, covering many categories: spiritual roots, cultivation techniques, martial arts or spells, family background, criminal records, whether any direct blood relatives within three generations have been imprisoned or turned demonic, and more.

These are all things Dao Ting Si investigates.

Passing the exam isn't just one in a thousand—it's at least one in a hundred.

And beyond the exams, there are complex, tangled relationships and networks among cultivators behind the scenes.

If Mo Hua wanted to officially pass the exam and become a Dao Ting Si cultivator—even just as a Zhisi—it would likely be very difficult.

Now, getting a non-registered status by chance wasn't bad at all.

"What's the difference between non-registered and official?" Mo Hua asked.

Zhang Lan explained: "Non-registered means outside the official roster—you can do tasks for Dao Ting Si to earn merit, which you can exchange for spiritual stones, cultivation techniques, spells, spiritual artifacts, and arrays, and other cultivation resources."

"But without official roster status, you can't be promoted, have no authority, and your benefits can't compare to those of regular Dao Ting Si cultivators."

"Oh." Mo Hua nodded. "So you're officially on duty but really just a hired hand."

Zhang Lan snorted. "Many cultivators want this, yet have no way to get it."

Mo Hua leaned closer and whispered: "Is this waist token really that good?"

Zhang Lan pointed at the token in Mo Hua's hand. "To others, this might only help them get a job and a meal. But you're different—you're an array master. You don't rely on this for food; you can use it to fleece Dao Ting Si."

Mo Hua whispered back: "Uncle Zhang, you're part of Dao Ting Si too. Encouraging me to fleece Dao Ting Si—isn't that… not very good?"

Zhang Lan glared at Mo Hua. "I didn't encourage you."

"Don't worry—I won't tell anyone."

Zhang Lan sighed helplessly. "Dao Ting controls the entire cultivation world, with countless resources. Dao Ting Si under it is huge and wealthy. If you can fleece Dao Ting Si, that's your own skill."

At least in all of Xiancheng, you're the only one who got a Zhangsi to hand you a waist token voluntarily…

Zhang Lan thought silently.

Mo Hua pondered, then asked curiously: "How do you fleece it?"

Though called a Dao Ting Si waist token, it bore only simple patterns, no inscriptions—just an ordinary bronze plaque with nothing special.

Even if Zhang Lan said it could be used to fleece, Mo Hua had no idea how.

After asking, Mo Hua felt it wasn't right to keep asking Zhang Lan for things, so he patted his chest and declared generously:

"Today, you eat and drink as much as you want—I'll pay."

After all, the restaurant was his family's.

Zhang Lan chuckled, shook his head, and said to Mo Hua:

"You helped Dao Ting Si. Without this waist token, it's just a personal favor—favors are light or heavy, and not always binding."

"But with this waist token, your merit is recorded, and merit can be directly exchanged for spiritual stones, pills, and spiritual artifacts."

"For example, if you helped us capture Guangtou Tuo and succeeded, we'd owe you a favor—but only I and Zhou Zhangsi know this; other cultivators don't, and might not recognize it."

"Now that you have the waist token, this favor can be counted as official merit, approved by Zhou Zhangsi and recorded in the Merit Ledger—it's real, legitimate, and no one can deny it."

Mo Hua roughly understood and asked again: "Then how is this merit calculated?"

Zhang Lan sipped tea and continued:

"First, it's divided by rank. Since you're in the Qi Condensation stage, all your merit counts as First Class."

"Second, merit is graded into four tiers: Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding. Different tiers yield different rewards, but each has a quota."

"Your help capturing Guangtou Tuo earned you a Yi-tier merit. If exchanged for spirit stones, it's worth roughly a thousand."

"That much?" Mo Hua was startled.

Over twenty people helped capture Guangtou Tuo, yet Mo Hua alone could claim a thousand spirit stones.

"This is just the merit-based portion. There are also bounties and miscellaneous rewards—added together, it's still substantial."

"Is Guangtou Tuo really worth that much? If I capture a few more, won't I get rich?"

"What are you thinking?" Zhang Lan gently ruffled Mo Hua's hair. "Do you think Guangtou Tuo is a radish? You can just grab as many as you want?"

Mo Hua thought for a moment and nodded.

True enough—in that gang of criminal cultivators, Guangtou Tuo was at least a "big brother."

Even if he were a radish, he'd be the biggest one.

"But this merit," Zhang Lan added, "is best saved for later use. Exchanging it for spirit stones is wasteful."

"Why's that?"

"Dao Ting Si is backed by the Dao Court, whose lineage and resource base run deep and wide. The items offered as rewards may not be the most precious, but they're the most comprehensive."

Zhang Lan explained patiently, "Whether for cultivation or painting arrays, you'll inevitably encounter things that aren't rare or valuable but are hard to find—spirit stones won't buy them, and those situations are most troublesome."

"With this waist token, you can directly exchange for such items from Dao Ting Si's warehouse, saving you a lot of trouble."

Mo Hua nodded repeatedly as he listened.

Without Zhang Lan's guidance, he'd never have known this.

Then Mo Hua grew concerned: "If I take this waist token, must I obey Dao Ting Si's orders?"

He didn't want to become, one day, a "dog of Dao Ting Si," forced to act only under their command.

"Relax," Zhang Lan raised an eyebrow at Mo Hua. "This is another advantage of this bronze waist token: you're subject to orders, not summonses."

"Dao Ting Si can requisition you, but they don't truly have authority to command you. As long as you don't rely on this post for your livelihood, you can just toss the token aside and say, 'I quit.' No one can touch you."

"Is this what they call 'non-desire brings strength'?"

Zhang Lan pondered, then nodded. "In a way. As long as you don't grovel or schemingly pursue gain, it's actually quite easy."

With that, Mo Hua felt at ease.

He was an array master—he didn't rely on this for his livelihood. This waist token was just for squeezing out benefits.

Then Mo Hua sighed: "My status's gotten complicated now."

He's primarily an array master, then a demon hunter, and now also a petty rogue siphoning benefits from Dao Ting Si.