Chapter 54: Jiangnan Province Newcomer Competition, Emergency Mission (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Mythical treasures,

are treasures conceived from ancient myths by immortals and gods, possessing immense power,

and can also serve as a medium for communication to receive blessings.

Regardless of the type, they all possess the great power to rewrite the world.

The blessing from God obtained by Heavenly King Hong shattered the final dynastic fortune of the Great Qing; although it did not annihilate it, it ushered in a brand-new era.

Of course, blessings are not omnipotent.

For instance, the wish to become a Great Divine Ability is very difficult to realize; after all, this is equivalent to forcibly carving out a transcendent path. Great existences can do it, but they must pay a price.

Otherwise, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would not have fallen.

But wishing to raise one's rank by one or two levels is as easy as turning over one's hand.

Of course, the prerequisite is that God will respond.

"The Heavenly King did not discard it but hid it away, which means the blessing did not fail; it is just that for some reason, it cannot be used for the time being."

Ba Lie analyzed: "After the Tianxia Alliance was established, the headquarters organized several carpet searches in areas like Jiangnan Province, but they found nothing and eventually concluded it was false information.

During this period, the Corpse-Dissection Royal Court has also been hunting down disease domains related to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. I thought it was just venting anger, but now it seems it is very likely for the Heavenly King's treasure, and the Gongyang clan were the Heavenly King's confidants back then."

Jiang Yan nodded, also recalling that when Regional Commander Lu first appeared, he mentioned "the mud-legged soldiers of the Taiping Army," which was very likely also for this mythical treasure.

"Sounds so interesting."

Yin Yiyi's eyes lit up as she listened; she hadn't yet tried recipes and ingredients from the Corpse-Dissection Royal Court and the disease domains belonging to Tianjing, and it sounded quite delicious.

Zhao Yinman's expression was calm; for her, the so-called mythical treasure didn't have even one percent of the appeal of the Coffin Spirit.

It was just a pity that Jiang Yan refused to let her sleep once.

Niu Tunan yawned and waved his hand: "Mythical treasures are good, but you have to have the life to take them, not to mention whether this treasure even exists is an unknown."

Jiang Yan himself said that there are human forces in the present world looking for Gaoshan Jun to cooperate; in the final analysis, it is because they can't find it in the present world and want to introduce external forces to try their luck."

Ba Lie agreed: "Tunan's point is also reasonable. Let me report the news to headquarters first; regardless of whether the treasure can be found, there will be a generous mission reward."

Jiang Yan hurriedly asked: "How much money? When will it be issued?"

"If the news is confirmed to be true, there are 100 points, which should be around three million in cash. Normal people wouldn't exchange them for money. If clues to the treasure are found later, there will be additional rewards..."

Ba Lie looked at the excited Jiang Yan, his heart stirred, and he said with a smile: "Are you very short of money lately?"

"How could cultivation not be expensive?"

Jiang Yan rolled his eyes. Old Ba was asking what he already knew, and he played along, saying: "Just advance me my salary for the next few years!"

Ba Lie retorted: "If everyone were like you and advanced their salary, the History Correction Bureau would go bankrupt. The tax in Goose City only covers one year at most. Don't chirp yet, listen to me finish..."

"Although salary cannot be advanced, the annual Newcomer Competition for Jiangnan Province is in one month. At that time, all newcomers in the province will participate, and the organization will evaluate your comprehensive level from various aspects.

Among them, the highest score weighting is the competition of methods to determine the strongest.

The top ten can all receive bonuses and historical relics; the top three can enter the disease domain grotto-heaven controlled by headquarters to obtain opportunities, and the first place gets a ten-million bonus."

"Please make sure to let me participate; I love enthusiastic exchanges with my future colleagues the most."

Jiang Yan's expression was solemn.

This money would be enough for him to burn for a while; he wouldn't have to live so tightly.

The Coffin Spirit hadn't been fully oiled in a long time.

Ba Lie laughed heartily: "That's the spirit! Don't worry, we still have a month to prepare. The goal is to secure a top ten spot and strive for the top three; third place also has a three-million bonus."

It wasn't that he didn't trust Jiang Yan's strength; in fact, at the beginning, he was just painting a big picture and didn't even expect Jiang Yan to place.

After all, after the disease mutation in the Long River of History worsened, the disease domains became increasingly terrifying, raising the quantity and quality of newly emerging geniuses by a level.

Moreover, they had been cultivating for half a year or even a year longer than Jiang Yan, and there were even contestants who specifically exploited bugs.

After all, the requirement is within one year of joining the History Correction Bureau; the cultivation time before joining doesn't count.

Therefore,

Just among those he knew, there were over a dozen Dao Foundations, including some at the high and peak stages of Dao Foundation.

There were even guys starting to conceive Dharma Seeds.

It could be said that the excellent talents of the entire Jiangnan Province were gathered.

Naturally, strong individuals emerged in droves!

Jiang Yan's talent could also rank among the top, but he suffered from the disadvantage of having too short a cultivation time.

Being able to advance to Dao Foundation relied on the foundation accumulated from experiencing two instances, but wanting to improve to the peak of Dao Foundation in a short time, unless his comprehension was heaven-defying, there was no chance.

But now,

He felt that Jiang Yan should have no problem getting into the top ten. If he could get into the top five, it would definitely make the Pan'an Branch stand out.

Besides that,

"Zhao Yinman is also a newcomer who joined this year; she will go with you!"

Zhao Yinman corrected: "Not a human, a zombie."

The human-machine zombie was as rigorous as ever.

"..."

Jiang Yan's heart was as calm as water; no one could stop him from making money!

At worst,

he would let the Two-Headed Shadow-Eating Snake · Skull-Crusher enter the battle!

Originally, he also wanted to hand over the spirit rice cultivation and cooperate with the authorities to develop an industrial chain,

but...

Ba Lie said: "The Spirit Rice Mantra of the Rice God Church, huh? When you bought a large number of pigs before, I guessed you had extracted the skill. There's no need to hand it over.

Inside the History Correction Bureau, from low-level to high-level, everything exists except for the core cultivation methods and super-level mantras of the Rice God Church; after all, only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win a hundred battles.

It's just that they are easy to learn but hard to master, and the higher the level, the stronger the side effects. Eating them is not as good as choosing better transcendent items.

If you like this type of mantra, you can use points to exchange for them at headquarters, but don't learn too many; it's easy to be noticed by the Rice God and become an anchor."

Jiang Yan: "..."

Two days later,

In Pan'an County, in Jiang Family Village, Jiang Yan was wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and slippers, sitting carelessly in the courtyard, holding a cattail fan to fan himself.

A few roosters with heads held high walked past him occasionally, but they quickened their pace when passing the small table.

Because if they were any later, they might see their relatives.

"Jiang Yan, eat more."

Jiang Yan's maternal grandfather picked up a large chicken leg for him. His name was Jiang Fufu; he was thin and short, an old chain-smoker, habitually lighting a cigarette and holding it between his fingers.

But he was busy piling a small mountain in Jiang Yan's bowl, letting it burn away in vain.

Jiang Yan's parents were both surnamed Jiang; they married for love. He had heard his father say before that their ancestors were also from this village. Back then, supplies were scarce, and for the sake of survival, they moved to another village.

After twists and turns, they became one family; it was quite a fate.

And his grandfather liked to call Jiang Yan by his full name because it showed he valued him.

Jiang Yan mumbled: "That's enough, Grandpa, you eat some meat too; look how thin you've become."

Clearly, his grandfather still had a head of black hair last year, but this year it had already turned mostly white, and his eyes were somewhat cloudy.

"I don't like eating meat; you and Grandma eat more." Jiang Yan's grandfather smiled, picked up some meat and put it in a bowl, thought for a moment, added some vegetables, and carried it to the room on the first floor.

Jiang Yan ate silently.

His grandmother was taller and larger than his grandfather; logically, her health should be better, but because she had long only eaten meat and no vegetables, her blood pressure was high, and some time ago she even had a stroke from secretly drinking alcohol.

Although the rescue was successful in the end and she could barely walk, her body had collapsed, and she had to lie in bed to rest most of the time.

Because she was still alive, his mother and uncle were afraid that the younger generation working away would worry, so they didn't notify them.

If he hadn't come back, he would only have known the news during the New Year.

"Jiang Yan, you're back!"

A voice with a local accent came from the road.

Jiang Yan's uncle was wearing a suit and leather shoes, carrying bags of health supplements. He quickened his pace, walked up, put down the things, held his hand, and said happily:

"Good lad, your physique is much sturdier. I heard your mom say that if your health isn't good, don't force yourself. Come to your uncle's construction site and do some accounting.

I'll pay you fifteen thousand a month; don't think it's too little. You don't have to do hard labor, just help me keep an eye on things. You've been rigorous since you were a child; your uncle trusts you, and I can also let go and fight for business."

Jiang Yan's uncle was named Jiang Fengyue; he was a contractor. The scale was neither big nor small. Although real estate was hard to do in the last two years, he relied on being loyal, acting generously, and being willing to share profits, so he never lacked projects.

Of course, the profit wasn't high either.

He was frugal in his own life but was very willing to spend money on his family.

"No, Uncle, I've landed a job recently. I'm already working at a state-owned enterprise. The leaders are very good, and the work is leisurely."

Jiang Yan felt warm in his heart; their family never had any sordid affairs and had always supported each other.

His uncle was very happy to hear this: "State-owned enterprise is good; that's an iron rice bowl. In the future, if you need to pull strings, come to your uncle. Don't look at my work as small, I know a lot of people."

"Okay."

Jiang Yan nodded, sitting in the courtyard, blowing in the evening breeze, quietly listening to his uncle and grandfather chat.

His grandfather suddenly said that when everyone came back, they should take a family portrait.

His uncle was still eating a chicken leg, but upon hearing this, he fell silent, squeezed out a smile, and said he would arrange a caregiver for his grandfather.

Unsurprisingly, he was refused, with the reason being not to waste money.

Uncle was also stubborn, so he turned the conversation to work.

He said he had taken on a project recently and ran into trouble; after working hard for over half a year, he ended up getting stuck, and they were even planning to replace him.

Jiang Fengyue grew anxious; he had put up his entire net worth to front the capital, how could they just replace him like that?

Wasn't this treating him like a stepping stone?

But the other side’s attitude was arrogant, and they completely ignored him.

Jiang Fengyue had no choice but to rely on his connections, hoping to have a middleman invite them to a meal to probe their intentions; he only hoped the other party’s appetite was small, and he could go and drink with them.

In fact, he had already been hospitalized several times from drinking, and the doctor had already issued an ultimatum.

Although big cities are cruel, different classes are parallel lines that rarely intersect.

But in small places, the good and the bad are mixed, relationships are deeply intertwined, and everything must be done according to the "rules."

"If they go too far, I'll just retire."

Jiang Yan knew his uncle was just venting.

After all, he had always been running around for the sake of the brothers working under him, and he had two sons to save up a family business for.

At the same time,

The connection Jiang Fengyue had mentioned... Li Yu, the Chief of the Security Bureau, also arrived at the courtyard gate.

But he brought bad news.

He had checked, and the people on the other side had quite a background; they had stated outright that a small-time contractor wasn't qualified to treat them to a meal.

They gave him no face at all.

Their style of conduct didn't seem like they had backing from above, nor were they involved in the underworld, so it was very likely related to the Inner World.

The reason he understood this was because Li Yu had liaised with the local Qing Shi Technology and helped handle a few scenes; although he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes, he vaguely knew...

This world hid mysterious powers.

Ordinary people were best off not fighting with them, or they would suffer a great loss.

He could only resign himself to bad luck.

He opened the car door, just about to get out to notify him of this news and persuade his old friend, when his peripheral vision caught Jiang Yan beside Jiang Fengyue, and his footsteps paused.

"This face... why does it feel like I've seen it somewhere?"

Li Yu had also worked his way up from the grassroots, so his memory was naturally not bad, and he soon recalled it.

The day before yesterday, his superiors had him add a file, categorized under Qing Shi Technology, with a classification of Top Secret.

Because the face in the photo was heaven-defyingly handsome, it left a deep impression on him.

He had wondered, were there such handsome young men in the local area?

"I remember the name seems to be Jiang Yan, surname Jiang... holy crap!"

How could Li Yu not understand? This was one family!

He didn't get out of the car, and after pondering for a moment, he called the other side again to explain the situation.

Originally, the young man's voice on the phone had been somewhat impatient, but upon hearing "Qing Shi Technology," he fell silent.

Soon, a steady man's voice replaced him on the other end.

He stated that it was they who had been tactless today, hoped Li Yu could put in a good word for them, and said they would personally come to apologize later.

In a few minutes, he had witnessed the other party’s attitude undergo a 180-degree turn, even becoming somewhat obsequious.

Li Yu looked at Jiang Yan and the others who were still eating, and sighed:

"When one person attains the Dao, their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven!"

……

……

"It really should be cleaned up."

Jiang Yan nodded in agreement, accompanying his uncle at the dinner table to point out the faults of the world.

"That's just talk; it's not that simple to implement. Human hearts are insatiable, you must also be careful in your unit..."

As his uncle was speaking, his phone suddenly rang; after answering and listening for a few moments, his expression was one of astonishment:

"What? The process over there is all finished, and they're just waiting for my signature? You're not joking, are you?

What! They also want to apologize to me? That won't be necessary, harmony brings wealth. Alright, I'm coming right now!"

His uncle’s expression was pleasantly surprised; although he didn't know why the other party had suddenly changed their temperament, he had to seize the opportunity to prevent them from going back on their word halfway.

"Jiang Yan, you really are your uncle's lucky star; you brought wealth as soon as you came back!"

His uncle shoveled a few mouthfuls of rice and left in a hurry, not forgetting to praise his nephew before he left.

Jiang Yan smiled without a word, his peripheral vision glancing at the car parked in the distance; in the darkness, the Shadow Wing Snake quietly retreated.

"Honestly, he's been so rash since he was a child, he hasn't changed a bit." Grandfather shook his head and continued to chat about family matters with Jiang Yan.

After Grandmother finished eating, she felt the evening breeze and began to get sleepy.

Mother had told Jiang Yan before that Grandmother had dementia, but she still remembered to instruct Grandfather to go to the convenience store to buy some snacks Jiang Yan liked, and before she could finish speaking...

She fell asleep.

Jiang Yan and Grandfather put Grandmother to bed.

Grandfather covered her with the quilt and sighed: "If she goes before me, I can still take care of her, and that would be a blessing. I’m just afraid that if I go first, she will suffer alone."

"Don't think nonsense, you will both live to be a hundred," Jiang Yan said softly.

Before he could finish, Grandfather’s hand tightly gripped his; the skin was aged and rough, yet unusually warm, as hot as a furnace.

It was even hotter than when he practiced the Fire Abode Method.

Grandfather’s cloudy eyes looked at Jiang Yan, his eye sockets reddening, and he said softly: "Jiang Yan, Grandfather doesn't want to lie to you; I don't know if I'll be able to see the day you settle down and start a family."

"You must live happily."

Jiang Yan was silent and nodded earnestly.

It wasn't until evening that he said goodbye to his grandfather.

Before leaving, he secretly injected a strand of Longevity Green Lotus into his grandfather and grandmother; although it had no grade, its healing effect on ordinary people was not bad.

The two elders' complexions improved quite a bit, and they didn't think much of it, only assuming it was because their grandson had returned and they were in a good mood.

"The Buddha says, all living beings suffer eight hardships: birth, old age, sickness, death, separation from loved ones, inability to obtain what one desires, encountering those one hates, and the burning of the five aggregates..."

He walked alone on the familiar street, his gaze deep.

Grandfather’s life lamp was already dim and lusterless, with only a few months of lifespan left.

Birth, old age, sickness, and death are the mandate of heaven.

But he did not accept this fate; he did not want to experience the pain of losing a loved one. He was not a Buddha who had seen through the red dust, just a greedy and selfish person.

He wanted that when one person attains the Dao, those around him would also receive blessings.

A method for extending life was an urgent matter.

"Hiss hiss!"

The two-headed giant snake beneath him sensed its master’s emotions; its shadow gradually twisted, and its scarlet snake eyes brimmed with the malice to devour all life.

"Ding ding ding!"

The phone rang; after connecting, Ba Lie’s voice came from the other side:

"I told you, kid, don't be so devoid of desire, you can be a bit reckless, but don't start by asking for a life-extension item mission; it’s too difficult for people.

Even if extending the life of an ordinary person is simpler than for a transcendent, rich people without talent will spend huge sums to purchase such items; if they appear on the market, they are snatched up, and the premium is severe.

The History Correction Bureau does have them, but they cost a sky-high amount of points..."

"Director Ba, thank you for your hard work."

After listening, Jiang Yan thanked him and prepared to go into the Sickness Domain to search for one himself, but Old Ba grew anxious:

"Don't be so rash, kid. Although it's not easy, it can't stump me, the helpful Old Ba. I've found a mission for you, it's just that the difficulty... is a bit high."

Two chapters of 6,600 characters, equivalent to three updates, not splitting them up; please give monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and follow-up reads!

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(End of chapter)