Chapter 346: Lingguang Hall Appointment Notice

Hua Changxi had seen the approximate locations of the twelve cave heavens and blessed lands of Nanxiang City on the Zhou Tian Star Disk displayed atop the Star Observation Tower, which mapped the terrain of Nanxiang City; combined with her ability to accurately pinpoint the source of spatial fluctuations, she was confident she could find the specific positions of the twelve cave heavens and blessed lands.

With some leads on body-tempering grounds, Hua Changxi's anxiety eased.

Although her cultivation realm could not advance for the time being, as long as she kept tempering her body, her strength would not fall behind others.

Hua Changxi shifted her focus to the Vermilion Bird Army. Now that the army numbered over twenty thousand, all the halls of the Mausoleum of Light should be fully opened.

That same day, an appointment notice was posted outside every hall of the Mausoleum of Light.

"Effective immediately, all halls of the Mausoleum of Light, except the main hall, are open."

"Based on a comprehensive ranking of cultivation level and meritorious contributions, key positions will be assigned to those at the top of the list."

"Appoint Xiao Zhuohua as the Steward of the Transmission Hall, responsible for registration and verification of Vermilion Bird Army personnel rolls, as well as external propaganda affairs of the Mausoleum of Light."

"Appoint Yun You as the Steward of the Logistics Department, overseeing the elixir vault, talisman vault, formation vault, and armory, and responsible for the coordination and distribution of supplies."

"Appoint Xie Hanzhang as the Steward of the Mission Hall, responsible for mission distribution, intelligence gathering, and related affairs."

"Appoint Su Yu as the Steward of the Merit Hall, responsible for recording and verifying the merits of the Vermilion Bird Army."

"Appoint Yang Zhaoye as the Steward of the Discipline Hall, responsible for establishing and rectifying military discipline of the Vermilion Bird Army, as well as maintaining order in the Mausoleum of Light."

"Appoint Duan Jishan as the Steward of the Martial Arts Hall, responsible for the daily training affairs of the Vermilion Bird Army."

"Appoint Luo Xingyao as the Steward of the Practice Hall, responsible for managing the allocation and scheduling of practice rooms."

"Appoint Ye Liyue, Qin Zhilan, Liu Shuyi, Yan Guichen, Su Zhuyue, and twenty others as chiliarchs, responsible for commanding the assigned thousand Vermilion Bird Army soldiers, with authority to select centurions and decurions on their own."

"Note: Anyone among the above personnel who is unwilling to serve as a steward should register their message at the Mission Hall. Once appointed, they will be subject to the collective scrutiny of the entire Vermilion Bird Army."

"If any steward neglects their duties, any registered member of the Vermilion Bird Army has the right to expose them. Subsequently, opinion boxes will be placed at the four corners (north, south, east, west) of the Mausoleum of Light Square for everyone to express their views."

"As the Mausoleum of Light has only recently appeared, many affairs are still being refined. The above appointments are inevitably imperfect. In the future, in addition to cultivation level and merit points, 'popular support' will also be included as a criterion for selection and assessment."

"If the above stewards and chiliarchs are inadequate for their respective positions, they will be unconditionally replaced, and suitable personnel will be selected to fill the vacancies."

"All positions in the Mausoleum of Light are reserved for the capable!"

Once this appointment notice was issued, the entire Mausoleum of Light stirred with excitement.

Hua Changxi herself had little confidence in this appointment. She had chosen those people based on their cultivation strength and their track record of accepting and completing missions.

She had no time to examine the moral character of these people.

But now she couldn't afford to worry about that. With over twenty thousand soldiers in the Vermilion Bird Army, if there was no complete institutional framework to regulate them, the destructive potential would be incalculable.

Su Yu came to the Logistics Department to find Yun You: "When the Hall Master doesn't appear, it's as if she doesn't exist; the moment she shows up, she does something astonishing."

Since the two had become stewards early on, they were closer than others in daily life and would gather to discuss matters when issues arose.

Yun You: "I rather think the Hall Master is often in the Mausoleum of Light, just not making appearances."

Su Yu didn't argue about this, but said with a sigh: "The Hall Master really doesn't care about background when selecting capable people."

Nearly eighty percent of the stewards and the twenty-five chiliarchs came from ordinary backgrounds.

Yun You smiled: "The Hall Master's fair conduct is a blessing for all the Vermilion Bird Army."

The Hall Master had suddenly released this appointment notice, which caused a stir, but no one took the opportunity to cause trouble.

Why?

Because cultivation levels and merit points were verifiable; once it was confirmed that the appointees were indeed the ones with the highest comprehensive rankings, everyone had nothing to say.

Su Yu was somewhat dejected. The Su family was not a small household; he was used to a mode of interaction that leveraged strong alliances for huge gains. Now, being placed on the same starting line as everyone else and having to rely solely on his own strength to compete with real efforts, he found it difficult to adapt.

Yun You, who understood Su Yu fairly well, saw his state and tried to console him: "To have won the favor of the Hall Master, you and I are already luckier than many. As long as we do our jobs well, with a clear conscience toward ourselves, the Hall Master, and the Vermilion Bird Army, that's enough."

"As for the rest..."

"Even the Chu Imperial Clan, which ruled the Great Jin for nearly a thousand years, couldn't avoid stepping down from the highest seat of power, let alone others."

Su Yu looked at Yun You and shook his head: "You don't understand..."

Yun You came from an ordinary background; before the spiritual energy revival, the highest official she had ever seen was a county magistrate. She simply couldn't grasp the magnitude of the psychological落差 (fall) caused by the loss of power.

Yun You couldn't be bothered to continue Su Yu's sentimental lament and said directly: "Let's go. We should go meet the other stewards and the chiliarchs."

"Since we have been entrusted with such important duties by the Hall Master, we should naturally share his burdens and jointly manage Lingguang Hall."

Not a single person appointed turned down the position.

After seeing these people gathered in the Discipline Hall and beginning to discuss how to develop, strengthen, and train the Vermilion Bird Army and such matters, Hua Changxi flew away from Lingguang Hall.

"Nanxiang County really is getting bigger and bigger."

In the past, it took Hua Changxi only a couple of hours to cross Nanxiang County; but now, after flying through the sky for more than half a day, she was still circling above Nanxiang County.

More and more cultivators were gathering in Nanxiang County. In places where fire Qi was abundant, Nascent Soul cultivators were even appearing openly, sitting cross-legged right there, giving the impression that the territory was already taken.

Hua Changxi carefully avoided everyone, searching one by one for the exact locations of the twelve blessed grotto-heavens.

"Hmm?"

When Hua Changxi passed by a bare stone mountain with no spatial fluctuations or any abnormalities, the fire Qi in her dantian suddenly began to tremble.

"Whoosh~"

Hua Changxi let the fire Qi inside her body flow out along her arm. In an instant, a red lotus condensed from raging flames suddenly bloomed in her hand.

Gazing at the 'Karmic Fire Lotus' in her hand, Hua Changxi's eyes first flickered, then suddenly brightened. She remembered that among the twelve blessed grotto-heavens of Nanxiang County, there was one named 'Karmic Fire Platform'.

The Karmic Fire Lotus had condensed on its own, likely drawn by some call from this location.

Hua Changxi flew down onto the stone mountain. The Karmic Fire Lotus in her palm instantly blazed with even greater light, rising into the air and rapidly growing larger.

Soon, the Karmic Fire Lotus gradually became translucent, starting to flicker in and out of visibility. With a 'pop' sound from its center, a circular rift appeared.

Seeing the rift, Hua Changxi's eyes sharpened. Having already experienced entering and exiting spatial rifts several times, she immediately recognized that this opening connected to another space.

Mindful of being suppressed by restrictions in the Xuanfu Estate, Hua Changxi fully marshaled her attention before carefully stepping into the rift at the center of the red lotus.

Passing through the rift, the scenery before her eyes underwent an earth-shattering transformation.