Chapter 46: The Spirit-Cleansing Pool, The Mission Hall
Stepping into the Eastern Temple, everyone he passed wore the black official robe of the Xiezhi, and not a single soul paid Gu Lin any second glance.
Arriving at the outermost administrative office, Gu Lin asked quietly:
“Excuse me, where might I find Centurion Cao, Lord Cao?”
A man didn’t even lift his eyelids as he replied:
“Which Centurion Cao?”
Gu Lin: “The Centurion Cao who led the delegation to Chuwei Prefecture to oversee the selection trial.”
The man nodded and tore off a sheet of paper, writing down a specific address on it.
Following the address, Gu Lin wove his way through the various halls and towers, and finally, climbing a flight of stairs, he found the office located on the western side.
Silence hung outside the office.
Knock, knock.
Gu Lin knocked on the door.
“Enter.”
A familiar voice called out.
Gu Lin pushed the door open and stepped inside, finding Centurion Cao bent over his desk, working through official documents.
Centurion Cao stared at him for a long moment, none of the warmth he’d shown during the selection trial present now, his tone instead cold and detached:
“A full month, and you’ve finally decided to report for duty.”
Gu Lin cupped his hands respectfully:
“This humble servant was delayed by pressing matters.”
Centurion Cao stared at him for a long while longer before speaking, his voice icy:
“Other newly inducted members have already spent over 20 days in quiet cultivation at the Spirit-Cleansing Pool. Do you even understand how precious the Spirit-Cleansing Pool truly is? Every person gets only a single chance in their entire lifetime. The purest spiritual liquid imaginable, cleansing one’s meridians and bone marrow, completely unlocking a martial artist’s full potential, pushing one’s innate talent to its absolute limit.”
“Over a dozen new members have already broken through two realms in succession. Tell me, who else could manage to break through two full realms of Cavern Mystery in just 10 days, straight out of the Spirit-Cleansing Pool?”
“Delayed by pressing matters? No matter how pressing, nothing could possibly outweigh the Spirit-Cleansing Pool!!”
Centurion Cao’s voice carried deep, palpable disappointment, and he made no effort to hide it:
“Don’t think for a moment I can’t see through what’s going on in your head. Ever since you stepped into the sacred grounds, you’ve completely lost your drive, given up on yourself entirely. After all, as long as you don’t commit some grave error, you’ll never be expelled from the sacred grounds. Out in the world, you already stand a cut above everyone else, and the sacred grounds provides you with all the cultivation resources you could ever need—so why bother pushing yourself further? Might as well become some parasite feasting freely on the Divine Dynasty’s resources and call it a comfortable life!”
Once he’d finished speaking, he added, his tone growing even sharper:
“Honestly, I regret ever having chosen you. A complete waste of the Eastern Temple’s precious slot!”
Gu Lin lowered his head and said nothing.
He understood himself with perfect clarity.
Talent?
His own talent had been nothing more than a spot in Shiyang Academy’s Wilderness cohort—a life destined to never step foot beyond Shiyang County’s borders.
What good would the Spirit-Cleansing Pool possibly do him?
3 months in the Spirit-Cleansing Pool—could that alone break him through to Cavern Mystery?
An utter fantasy!
Yet here he already stood, at Cavern Mystery, this very moment!
Centurion Cao let out a sigh:
“Suit yourself, then.”
What a waste, having competed so fiercely against the other three sacred grounds for this champion’s slot, only to end up with someone so utterly devoid of ambition, content to drift through mediocrity.
Others had spent years within the sacred grounds with no hope of advancement left, forced to accept their reality, slowly losing their will to strive. That, he could understand.
But who behaved this way from the very moment they joined? Delaying even the Spirit-Cleansing Pool itself?
If word of this ever got out, it would become a laughingstock!
A complete waste of the Eastern Temple’s precious slot!
And what stung the most was that this was his own direct subordinate.
Centurion Cao pulled a key token from his desk drawer and tossed it over without ceremony. “Your office assignment details are on there.”
Gu Lin accepted it, cupping his hands in a respectful bow:
“This humble servant takes his leave.”
Leaving the centurion’s office, Gu Lin wandered about for the better part of 2 incense-sticks’ worth of time before finally locating his own secluded office, tucked away in an out-of-the-way corner.
Opening the door, he found a tung-wood desk and a rosewood chair arranged inside, and to the right stood a spotlessly clean meditation chamber, spiritual energy drifting mistily just beyond its windows and doors.
Walking up to the desk, he found a sheet of paper held down beneath a paperweight.
The paper displayed a hand-drawn map of the Eastern Temple’s administrative complex, clearly labeling the names of each hall and tower.
At the very end of the note:
“This month’s stipend.”
Beneath the desk sat 3 bags.
The first bag contained 12 crystal-clear, pigeon-egg-sized round objects, entirely free of impurities, their spiritual energy remarkably abundant.
On his way over, he’d overheard a Blade-Bearer mention that this was the standard treatment given to sacred grounds newcomers—
Mid-grade Spirit Stones.
Ordinary newcomers received 10.
But as the prefecture’s champion, his allotment came 20 percent higher.
The second bag, considerably heavier, contained ginseng, spirit fungus, and various other medicinal herbs.
An ordinary member received 3 catties. He’d received 3 catties and 6 taels.
The final bag held a small pill jar, containing 12 pills meant to calm the mind and nourish the spirit.
Gu Lin’s face broke into a smile—this, then, was the kind of treatment that made others green with envy at the sacred grounds’ generosity.
As for Lord Cao’s accusation that he’d lost all his drive and ambition?
That would never happen.
The weak existed only to be preyed upon. He had to keep climbing, and he would never stop moving forward.
After putting away his stipend, Gu Lin carefully read through the sheet of paper, committing every rule to memory.
Rule 1: Conspiring with demons, or being manipulated and corrupted by demonic forces, results in expulsion from the Eastern Temple;
Secretly slaughtering fellow sacred grounds members results in expulsion from the Eastern Temple.
Rule 2: The Eastern Temple conducts a review once every 6 months. Those who pass retain their current treatment; those who fail have their treatment reduced. Repeated failures result in treatment being reduced further and further, until nothing remains.
Rule 3: Excepting newly inducted members and those currently on assigned duty, every other member must complete 2 missions at the Mission Hall each month.
Gu Lin began reading through the information regarding the Mission Hall.
The Mission Hall spanned a total of 17 floors, and the vast majority of its cases involved demonic incidents, dispatched to the sacred grounds from all across Chu Province. Sacred grounds members would accept these cases and go forth to slay demons and eliminate evil, protecting the realm and its people.
This was the sacred grounds’ sworn duty!
At the same time, completing missions earned contribution points, which could then be exchanged at the Eastern Temple’s Treasure Tower for martial arts manuals or even magical artifacts.
Once contribution points accumulated to a certain threshold, the Daoist Court System, jointly overseen by all four sacred grounds, would step in and begin arranging matters of promotion.
Ordinary members advanced to Squad Leader.
A Squad Leader, as the name suggested, oversaw 5 sacred grounds members under their direct command.
After Squad Leader came Company Leader, commanding 10 subordinates.
Another promotion from Company Leader led to Banner Officer.
After Banner Officer came Chief Banner Officer, directly commanding 50 subordinates.
Beyond Chief Banner Officer came Deputy Centurion, and then finally, Centurion.
Status represented power.
The higher one’s status climbed, the higher the floors of the Mission Hall one could access, engaging with larger and more significant demonic cases, and enjoying ever more generous treatment.
Take an Eastern Temple centurion, for instance—directly commanding over 100 sacred grounds members, holding the authority to execute officials of Chu Province ranked below the 5th grade without prior authorization, and able to directly intervene in the family affairs of noble clans ranked below the 6th tier.
An Eastern Temple centurion was even granted a Storage Ring, bestowed directly by the Divine Dynasty itself!
“No wonder I noticed a golden ring on Lord Cao’s index finger.”
Gu Lin’s eyes filled with open envy.
A Storage Ring was among the rarest of rare treasures, forged by grandmasters of the Array Dao who had mastered the power of space itself, its interior remarkably stable. Rumor held that once a drop of one’s blood essence had been infused into it, should the owner die suddenly, the Storage Ring itself would crumble to dust in that same instant.
“When will I finally have a Storage Ring of my own?” Gu Lin murmured to himself.
He wanted one so desperately. Going forward, he would need to cultivate the Witchcraft Dao and the Arcane Dao as well, and there was simply too much he wouldn’t be able to carry otherwise.
But the rank of centurion still felt impossibly distant.
Gu Lin rose to his feet and began pacing.
He had no need for martial arts manuals.
What he needed was power and authority.
Higher power and status meant greater authority within the Mission Hall, which meant access to more secretive, high-value cases, which meant more subordinates carrying out tasks on his behalf—wouldn’t that let him fill the Book of Merit at an absolutely frantic pace? And in turn, feed straight back into his own cultivation!
It was the perfect cycle!
Gu Lin murmured quietly to himself:
“Lord Cao mentioned that whoever wins first place in the sacred grounds’ grand tournament is promoted 3 full ranks at once, and the top 3 finishers are each promoted 2 ranks—a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for every newcomer.”
“3 ranks up—wouldn’t that make me a Banner Officer?”
He began turning the idea over in his mind:
“The sacred grounds’ grand tournament is still 5 months away. If I can become a Squad Leader, then a Company Leader before then, and then add 3 more ranks on top of that from the tournament itself…”
Gu Lin’s eyes blazed with sudden fire, his emotions surging.
As long as he had a goal to chase, it wouldn’t matter how many of Chu Province’s most brilliant talents gathered together in one place—he would carve out a bloody path through all of them, and no one would stand in his way.
Today, he’d head to Luoxia City to reunite with his parents. Tomorrow, he’d spend a few token days at the Spirit-Cleansing Pool just for appearances’ sake, and then head straight to the Mission Hall to claim assignments, focusing entirely on pushing his cultivation realm ever higher!!
Just as these thoughts were forming, a dense series of footsteps sounded from outside the office.
Several people stepped into the office without the slightest hint of courtesy.
Each of them wore official robes patterned with sun, moon, and stars, red official caps atop their heads, and at their waists hung a golden curved sickle symbolizing judgment and adjudication.
The Daoist Court System, the department jointly overseen by all four sacred grounds!
The one at the front carried an overwhelming presence and stated his purpose directly:
“Gu Lin, someone has reported you for abusing your authority to commit reckless killing, brutally slaughtering an official of the Divine Dynasty. Is this true?”
Hearing this, Gu Lin remained perfectly composed, producing a full set of testimony and evidence, and spoke calmly:
“I was simply carrying out my duties as an Eastern Temple official, purging corruption within Chu Province’s ranks of officialdom. How could this possibly constitute reckless killing or earn me such an infamous reputation?”
“Before leaving Chuwei Prefecture, I had already filed Zhao Hou’s crimes and evidence with the prefectural government for the official record. The prefectural government should have already forwarded this to the provincial government by now. Any of you are welcome to retrieve the records from the provincial office directly, or, of course, travel to Shiyang County in person to verify it yourselves.”
“Should there be even the slightest impropriety on my part, I will gladly accept whatever punishment follows.”
The several Daoist Court System officials nodded among themselves—as long as everything had been done properly and lawfully, that was all that mattered. They took the evidence and testimony and departed.
Gu Lin watched them leave.
This had to have been Zhao Can’s doing, reporting him.
But so what?
He’d killed the man, and that was simply that!!
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