Chapter 321: Chapter 320: The Nine Provinces in the Era of Jiang Li

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Translator: 549690339

“Thank you for your assistance, Human Emperor.” Dream Pure thanked Jiang Li, grateful for his help in shaping her body.

“It’s nothing, Elder Dream Pure…”

“I’m not a great dream hermit, so I’m not an elder to you, Human Emperor. Just call me Dream Pure.” Dream Pure interrupted Jiang Li’s formal address. If age is considered, she is just a newly born baby, not even two months old.

“Dream Pure, apart from those at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage, you are the peak power in the Nine Provinces. Few things in the Nine Provinces pose a threat to you. Today’s Nine Provinces are peaceful and may be very different from what you remember. It’s a good opportunity for you to explore. As for me, I have some matters to attend to first.”

“If the Human Emperor has matters to deal with, I dare not delay you.” Dream Pure did not interrupt Jiang Li’s departure.

The Mysterious Secret Realm is located on the border of the Great Zhou, so when Dream Pure and Jiang Li separated, she first took a stroll around the Great Zhou.

“The Great Zhou Dynasty…” Dream Pure had heard the name of the Great Zhou Dynasty a long time ago, but in the memory of the great dream hermit, she hardly ever visited here. The selection of the Mysterious Secret Realm on the borders of the Great Zhou was simply because she felt the environment here was good.

She had some understanding elements of the Nine Provinces, from the monks who entered the Mysterious Secret Realm. However, the picture was incomplete, and she had long wanted to travel herself, to see the Nine Provinces of Jiang Li’s era, and the Nine Provinces without the threat of Heavenly Demons.

Dream Pure appeared to people in a veil, her demeanor almost celestial, adding a charm to her veiled appearance. Her presence on the streets attracted numerous turning heads.

According to Dream Pure’s experience, even in this disguise, there would still be lustful people attracted to her beauty, trying to abduct her.

“You there, stop.” Someone called out to Dream Pure.

Dream Pure thought to herself, it’s finally here, someone has taken a fancy to my beauty.

“Please show your identification.” The two Great Zhou officials politely halted Dream Pure.

They had taken notice of this woman who had appeared in the city without registration, suspecting her to be a stowaway.

Dream Pure did not have any identification.

“None?” The two officials looked at each other with expressions indicating that it was what they expected, as if they had found a get-rich-quick scheme, “Then come with us.”

Dream Pure thought to herself, these two must want to take me to a secluded place to blackmail me.

“Name.”

“Dream Pure.”

“Age.”

“Forty-nine days.”

“Hmm?” The official found it strange, but still recorded it accurately.

“Place of birth.”

“None.”

“Are you willing to register your household in the Great Zhou?”

“…Sure.”

Dream Pure never imagined that the first thing she would do upon her rebirth would be to register her household.

“Cultivation level?”

“Body Integration Realm.”

“Hiss –” The two officials exchanged glances, unable to hide their joy.

At first, they had noticed Dream Pure and thought she had somehow smuggled into the Great Zhou. Later, they realized she was curious about everything, and they deduced perhaps she was an elder who had recently emerged from long-term seclusion.

Because of their long periods of seclusion, there was no completion of records for these types of cultivators by the Zhou Dynasty, which made administration inconvenient.

If they could document even one cultivator emerging from seclusion, it would be a significant achievement, and their performance evaluations at year-end would mark a significant improvement – they might even be promoted.

Having a Body Integration Realm cultivator registered in the household registry of the Great Zhou essentially guaranteed their promotion.

The two officials were of low cultivation, not confident enough to determine Dream Pure’s cultivation stage, so they brought her to the city lord.

At that time, the city lord was in the middle of a hearing.

“Ma Xi sent people to kidnap a young woman and attempted to do unscrupulous deeds, tried to bribe discreetly, was accused of kidnapping, attempted rape, and attempted bribery. He should be sentenced to 30 years in prison. Considering that Ma Xi is at the Nascent Soul Stage…”

Dream Pure thought to herself, as expected, the city lord is going to reduce or pardon Ma Xi’s sentence because he is at the Nascent Soul Stage.

In the memory of the great dream hermit, although Great Zhou is a law-abiding country, it still has its shadows.

“As he is at the Nascent Soul Stage with a lifespan of 500 years, the sentence should be increased proportionally. The verdict is now issued: Ma Xi is sentenced to 100 years in prison.”

Dream Pure was surprised – the current legal environment of the Great Zhou was much better than what the great dream hermit remembered.

“I am at the Nascent Soul Stage!” Ma Xi was furious, even though he had kidnapped a young woman, in other countries he could simply pull a few strings or offer some Spirit Stones as compensation. Why was he being sent to prison in Great Zhou?

And for a whooping 100 years?

He had heard that the Great Zhou treated all equally before the law but never expected it to be this stringent.

Isn’t equality supposed to be among cultivators of the Foundation Establishment Stage and among those at the Nascent Soul Stage?

The city lord, who had reached the Divinity Transformation Stage, faced Ma Xi’s aura without fear, immediately suppressed him, and sealed his cultivation.

“Take him to the dungeon.”

If this had happened in the past, the city lord would have turned a blind eye and let Ma Xi go.

But things were different now, the Zhou Emperor was furious due to the Qingcheng Jiang family’s matter and was rectifying the official sector. Each year, the royal family members who were proficient in time Dao would retroactively investigate the deeds of the officials for the past year. If they discovered anything about favoritism or corruption, they would penalize without mercy.

And there was no limit to the level of official that could be punished.

If the city lord had put Ma Xi’s case aside, then the one sitting in the dungeon would be him.

The Great Zhou has high expectations of its officials, but the corresponding rewards are also exceptionally high. Relying on his salary issued by the city lord, he cultivated from the Golden Core Stage to the Divinity Transformation Stage.

His next target was to take up official duties in the Royal Dynasty.

His cultivation was already enough, what he needed now was merit.

If he could catch a few classic law offenders in Great Zhou, such as the Body Integration Realm cultivator Du Ping, he estimated his merits would be sufficient.

“Who is this…” The city lord could not see through Dream Pure’s cultivation.

The two officials briefly reported the situation to the city lord, who felt a surge of excitement.

With a Body Integration Realm cultivator joining the Great Zhou, his merit was practically delivered right to him.

The city lord tried his best to fight unhanded with Dream Pure and was easily defeated. Soon, Dream Pure’s Body Integration Realm cultivation was ascertained.

“Welcome to the Great Zhou.” The city lord personally handed the identification to Dream Pure.

The identification of the Great Zhou is a fish-shaped medal made of metal. The identity is branded on the fish medal with the soul.

“Also, the fish medal contains the laws of the Great Zhou, you may want to study them.” The city lord reminded her.

While others needed to put the fish emblem against their forehead to see the content, Dream Pure could directly do so with her Divine Sense.

The laws of the Great Zhou lived up to its reputation, covering a vast range of areas. Of which, what interested Dream Pure the most was the law pertaining to the Spiritual Treasures.

Spiritual Treasures becoming spirit was a recent development. The Mysterious Secret Realm only opened once every ten years, so Dream Pure was not aware of this until a few days ago when Jiang Li protected the Dao for her and she heard about it from him.

Ji Zhi opened Spiritual Treasure Pavilions everywhere to enhance the fit between cultivators and their Spiritual Treasures. There were professional cultivators explaining how to cooperate better with the Spiritual Treasures.

Dream Pure went to the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion out of curiosity.

Before she even entered, she heard the lecturer say: “When dealing with Spiritual Treasures, we must be strict…”

Dream Pure thought to herself, how else could cultivators treat their Spiritual Treasures? They must be treating their Spiritual Treasures harshly, using them as tools.

“We must strictly adhere to the law of the Spiritual Treasure and ensure the rights of the Spiritual Treasure.”

“All you Spiritual Treasures should also note that while the Great Zhou guarantees your rights, it also requires you to fulfill the duty of assisting your master. The relationship between cultivators and Spiritual Treasures is give-and-take…”

At the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion, Dream Pure also saw the cultivators and their Spiritual Treasures fighting in tandem, significantly stronger than those who commanded rigid Spiritual Treasures.

She even saw people from Dao Sect coming to Great Zhou to preach the newest practice methods of Spiritual Treasures researched by the Yin and Yang Heaven Seal. Many Spiritual Treasures were promoted on the spot, and the scene was spectacular.

Jiang Li didn’t deliberately let Dream Pure explore Nine Provinces on her own; he truly had other matters to attend to.

The system had issued a new task to find fragments of the Ascension Ladder.