Chapter 196

With the issuance of Ye Qingxuan's announcement.

What Ye Qingxuan did not expect was that the first person to purchase a house in Dongxuan City would be Bai Qing'an, the Vice Master of the main Treasure Pavilion.

Since Bai Qing'an learned the conditions for shop entry into Dongxuan City, he had relayed the information back to the Treasure Pavilion.

Upon receiving Bai Qing'an's report, the Treasure Pavilion immediately abandoned the idea of opening a branch in Dongxuan City.

Given the Treasure Pavilion's current scale, one more branch makes little difference, nor does one less, so there was no need for drastic measures.

As a neutral force for public relations, the Treasure Pavilion's stance did not permit them to take such petty actions against Dongxuan City.

Although the mission had ended, Bai Qing'an himself had not yet left Dongxuan City.

For reasons unknown, he directly purchased a courtyard house in the mortal district of Dongxuan City.

To purchase a courtyard house in the mortal district of Dongxuan City,

Bai Qing'an even went specifically to the Mission Hall of Dongxuan City to accept several artifact-refining missions.

He then directly produced a magic treasure, submitted the mission on the spot, and claimed the contribution points.

Ye Qingxuan did not know what scheme Bai Qing'an was hatching, but he did not interfere with Bai Qing'an's actions.

Since it was a mission, the contribution points obtained would naturally be worth less than the mission itself.

Therefore, no matter what, Ye Qingxuan would not lose out.

As long as Bai Qing'an did not violate the Dongxuan Laws of Dongxuan City, the rest was his freedom, and Ye Qingxuan had no reason to intervene.

Now, what troubled Ye Qingxuan was still the matter of the Dongxuan City Lord's Mansion.

So far, the Dongxuan City Lord's Mansion consisted of only Ye Qingxuan himself.

Dongxuan City was not a small town like the mysterious shopping mall of the Xuanmu Realm; the daily affairs requiring the City Lord's Mansion's attention were extremely heavy.

Within Dongxuan City, the Dongxuan Academy alone numbered a full 10,800.

Add to this the leasing and sales of houses and shops in Dongxuan City, the daily operations of the Mission Hall, and so on, all requiring a large workforce.

Under normal circumstances, these matters would be managed by the various stewards of the City Lord's Mansion.

But now, the Dongxuan City Lord's Mansion had no one available; the personnel temporarily assigned were guards from the Dongxuan City Guard Force filling in.

However, this was not a long-term solution.

The primary duty of the Dongxuan City Guard Force was to patrol Dongxuan City and accept various external missions for the city.

The responsibilities they bore were equally heavy.

"It seems I must think of a way."

A look of contemplation appeared in Ye Qingxuan's eyes.

Using puppets was definitely out of the question.

Ordinary puppets lacked sufficient agility.

The puppets currently in the shops of the Dongxuan Market were controlled by a wisp of Ye Qingxuan's spiritual sense.

If too many puppets were controlled, it would inevitably drain a great deal of his own energy.

Therefore, Ye Qingxuan had never intended to use puppets to run the entire City Lord's Mansion from the start.

Now that the policy for cultivators entering Dongxuan City had just been established, cultivators could not be recruited arbitrarily.

However, mortals were not subject to this restriction.

In terms of population, mortals were the majority in Dongxuan City.

Although mortals had short lifespans and their thinking and actions were relatively slow, making them less efficient than cultivators,

the sheer number of mortals could not be ignored.

Currently, the entire Dongxuan City was covered by a formation, and cultivators entering the city dared not easily use their spiritual power.

Under these circumstances, employing mortals to run the City Lord's Mansion and handle miscellaneous city affairs was no problem.

Thinking this, a flash of light appeared in Ye Qingxuan's eyes, and he immediately sent a message to Liu Feifeng: "Liu Feifeng, select one thousand mortals to join the City Lord's Mansion and handle miscellaneous affairs for me."

At the same time, Ye Qingxuan sent Liu Feifeng a document detailing the working hours and benefits for mortals in the City Lord's Mansion.

Ye Qingxuan decided that all departments of the City Lord's Mansion would operate for only eight hours a day.

Anyone wishing to conduct business would have to come to the City Lord's Mansion within these eight hours.

But there was one condition: efficiency first.

Dongxuan City lacked nothing but people; if anyone dragged their feet on their work, they would be immediately eliminated and replaced. Previously, the construction of the various districts' Dongxuan Academies in Dongxuan City had been overseen by Liu Feifeng.

Relatively speaking, Liu Feifeng was currently the person in Dongxuan City most familiar with the residents of the mortal district.

Therefore, for this selection of City Lord's Mansion personnel, Ye Qingxuan also assigned the task to Liu Feifeng.

In a certain courtyard house within the mortal district of Dongxuan City,

Jiang Yinyin looked at the surprise on Liu Feifeng's face and asked curiously, "Master, what's wrong?"

Since Ye Qingxuan had previously sent a message to Liu Feifeng asking her to take Jiang Yinyin as a disciple,

Liu Feifeng had quickly rushed to Jiang Yinyin's residence and, in the presence of Jiang Yinyin's grandfather, accepted Jiang Yinyin as her disciple.

Jiang Yinyin possessed a five-element spiritual root; in Xingluo Zhou, this talent was already considered of the upper tier.

Even Liu Feifeng herself possessed only a four-element spiritual root.

Therefore, Liu Feifeng was very willing to take Jiang Yinyin as her disciple.

Since taking Jiang Yinyin as her disciple, Liu Feifeng had frequently come to Jiang Yinyin's place to teach her cultivation.

She held great affection for this disciple of hers.

Hearing her disciple's question, Liu Feifeng explained:

"It is a message from the City Lord, ordering me to select one thousand mortals to join the City Lord's Mansion and handle the city's miscellaneous affairs."

"Really? Master, do you think I am suitable?"

Hearing her master's words, Jiang Yinyin's face lit up with excitement, and she grabbed Liu Feifeng's hand, shaking it repeatedly.

Liu Fei Feng, with a touch of irritation, poked Jiang Yinyin's forehead with her finger:

"Just stay put and cultivate properly. This time, the City Lord is recruiting commoners; it has nothing to do with you."

Handling miscellaneous tasks for the City Lord's Mansion would waste a considerable amount of cultivation time.

"Oh, alright!"

Hearing Liu Fei Feng's words, Jiang Yinyin's smiling face instantly drooped.

At this moment, Jiang Yinyin's grandfather walked out of the house and said with a chuckle:

"Captain Liu, I wonder if this old man meets the City Lord's requirements?"

Jiang Yinyin's grandfather was named Jiang Xu, and he was already eighty years old.

Yet, for a commoner's lifespan, he could still live another forty or fifty years.

Jiang Xu wanted to use these remaining decades to accumulate contribution points for his granddaughter to support her cultivation.

"This?"

Looking at Jiang Xu before him, Liu Fei Feng hesitated: "He does meet the requirements, but..."

Through their interactions over this period, Liu Fei Feng knew that Jiang Xu possessed considerable knowledge.

Moreover, Jiang Xu was steady in character, making him suitable for work at the City Lord's Mansion.

However, for this recruitment, Liu Fei Feng had originally intended to recruit commoners under the age of thirty.

Although Ye Qingxuan did not specify an age limit for recruiting commoners this time,

for cultivators, a mere few decades of time is simply too short.

If possible, the recruited commoners should naturally live as long as possible.

At this moment, Jiang Yinyin ran over, hugged Jiang Xu's arm, and coquettishly said, "Grandpa, don't go to the City Lord's Mansion. Just stay home and keep Yinyin company, okay?"

Just as he did when Yinyin was a child, Jiang Xu smiled and patted her head: "Yinyin, be good. Staying home is too boring for Grandpa. Helping the City Lord with miscellaneous tasks at the mansion isn't tiring."

"Besides, there is a teleportation array in Dongxuan City, making travel convenient. Grandpa won't have to stay at the City Lord's Mansion all day."

After speaking, Jiang Xu looked again at the hesitant Liu Fei Feng and pleaded:

"Captain Liu, please agree to let this old man go!"

"I won't put you in a difficult position. When I am no longer capable, I will resign on my own."

Seeing Jiang Xu's persistence, and for Jiang Yinyin's sake, Liu Fei Feng reluctantly nodded:

"Then, alright!"

(End of this chapter)