177: Do you have to pay taxes to refine spiritual energy?

When Zhang Sheng learned that the person who came was actually the lord of this city, his heart tightened. He quickly bowed respectfully, his posture humble:

"City Lord? May I ask why you are looking for this junior?"

Ye Guyun wore a gentle smile, but his gaze was as sharp as an eagle's: "Zhang Sheng, although news from Qinglan Prefecture hasn't arrived, if I'm not mistaken, you just Ascended, right?"

Without waiting for Zhang Sheng to answer, City Lord Ye continued, his tone filled with unconcealed admiration: "To enter the top ten thousand of the fledgling tiger ranking right after Ascension? You are much stronger than I was back then."

Zhang Sheng humbly said: "City Lord, you flatter me. It was merely a fluke that I won against my opponent."

"Haha, a fluke?" Ye Guyun laughed loudly,

"To defeat a Divine Power Realm Cultivator head-on while in the True Embryo Realm, there is absolutely no fluke involved! The heavenly secret stele's judgment is never wrong."

"heavenly secret stele?" Zhang Sheng looked puzzled.

"You're new to the Upper Realm and don't know yet. The fledgling tiger ranking isn't manually recorded; it's a direct manifestation of the heavenly secret stele," Ye Guyun explained,

"To be precise, the heavenly secret stele existed first, then the fledgling tiger ranking!"

Zhang Sheng's heart tightened.

After defeating Lian Qiu, he had been using the Breath Concealment Art to disguise his aura as True Embryo Realm. Fortunately, the fledgling tiger ranking didn't mention Zhang Sheng's actual Realm.

Ye Guyun didn't dwell on the heavenly secret stele, changing the subject instead:

"Zhang Sheng, I had someone stop you for a reason."

"City Lord, please speak."

"I hope you join the Luoxia Guard!" Ye Guyun's gaze was burning,

"Luoxia Prefecture is currently the frontline against savage beasts. For new Ascendants like you, there are infinite opportunities there!

Moreover, once the Heavenly Gang Spirit Suppressing Great Formation is completed, with your merits, a smooth path to success in the future is by no means an empty promise!

Compared to staying in Qinglan Prefecture, which has been stable for tens of thousands of years, this is the fertile ground for achieving great deeds!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Sheng knew that Luoxia Prefecture was indeed a land of opportunity, but he was not alone.

"City Lord Ye, I am deeply grateful for your kindness. However... my Huafu Foundation is in Qinglan Prefecture, and I have already expressed my intention to join a commander there. I hope you can understand."

Ye Guyun frowned slightly, his voice deepening a bit:

"Zhang Sheng, this is the Upper Realm! The strong prey on the weak, and Laws are strict. You bringing them to Ascension has already shown utmost benevolence. Their life or death is their destiny!

Why not disband that so-called New Prefecture?

For a true Genius like you, it's not a help, but a heavy burden! Do you understand?"

In Ye Guyun's view, for Zhang Sheng to enter the top ten thousand of the fledgling tiger ranking right after Ascension, it was highly probable that he could enter the top one thousand given time!

How could he be dragged down by a New Prefecture?

Zhang Sheng straightened his back, his gaze firm, and respectfully cupped his hands, saying solemnly:

"City Lord Ye, for me, Huafu has never been a burden. That place... is my home. Therefore, disbanding Huafu is absolutely impossible!"

"Home?" Ye Guyun was slightly taken aback. This word had long become strange and distant in his long life, and a hint of undetectable complexity flashed in his eyes.

He took a deep breath and offered a more tempting condition:

"Zhang Sheng, reconsider. As long as you join Luoxia Prefecture, I guarantee you: when you reach True Embryo Realm Perfection, the Prefecture will provide you with a god-connecting treasure medicine for free!

And I promise that once you Breakthrough to the Divine Power Realm, you will be directly granted the position of Deputy Commander!"

"City Lord Ye, my mind is made up. I hope you can forgive me!" Zhang Sheng's tone was resolute.

Although god-connecting treasure medicine was precious, he had his own ways of obtaining it.

The Upper Realm was unfathomably deep and dangerous. What he needed was a stable platform to improve his strength, not Luoxia Prefecture, which wasn't even stable as a Prefecture City.

"So be it!" Ye Guyun sighed, not forcing the issue further,

"I only hope you will often come to the Luoxia Prefecture frontline for experience.

Life-and-death combat is the shortcut to refining Spells to Perfected State."

Zhang Sheng was a little surprised that City Lord Ye didn't make things difficult for him.

As his figure disappeared into the light of the teleportation Formation,

Ye Guyun looked at the empty Formation platform and silently thought:

"Zhang Sheng, I hope you forever hold onto this Heart-Nature and don't let the filth in the imperial court defile this pure sincerity."

"Sir, why didn't you directly tell him the true situation of the Song Kingdom?" A commander beside him quietly transmitted his voice.

"Xiao Xia, the time is not yet ripe." Ye Guyun's eyes were profound. "Once he joins Qinglan Academy, he will see everything clearly.

If he can still maintain this original Heart-Nature then... it won't be too late to invite him to join the Sect."

He looked up at the hazy sky, his voice carrying a hint of heaviness and desolation:

"This world... has long been rotten, almost beyond repair!"

...The light of the teleportation Formation lit up in another giant city—Heavenly Injury City.

Zhang Sheng stepped out, immediately closed his eyes to concentrate, and his Divine Sense, like a fine net, meticulously scrutinized his surroundings both inside and out several times. Only after confirming there were no tracking marks or hidden traps did his tense nerves slightly relax.

"Sir! You really made a mistake! I swear, I'm really not from Swift Wind Mansion!"

"Half a month ago, I just happened to pass by there!" A panicked voice came.

Not far away, several Cultivators with fierce auras were surrounding a True Embryo Realm Loose Cultivator.

The leader's eyes were cold, his tone unquestionable:

"Less nonsense! Someone personally saw you in Swift Wind Mansion!

Whether it's true or not will be clear once you come back with us!"

The Loose Cultivator's face turned ashen. The person behind the others was a big shot on the divine ability ranking. He didn't even dare to think of resisting and could only be led away in despair.

Zhang Sheng's heart tightened: "Tiger's movements are so fast!"

He secretly prayed: "I hope they don't trace it back to me."

Experts on the divine ability ranking were by no means comparable to ordinary individuals like Lian Qiu.

No matter how confident Zhang Sheng was, he would never be arrogant enough to think he could directly contend with existences of that level right now.

"I must quickly reach the central Prefecture City of Qinglan Prefecture!"

With this thought, he immediately quickened his pace towards the even larger teleportation Formation in the city center.

However, the fee marked in front of the Formation made his eyes twitch—ten million spiritual crystals!

"Does activating a teleportation really require so many spiritual crystals?" Zhang Sheng was full of doubt, but the situation was pressing, so he could only painfully pay this astronomical sum.

After a violent sensation of dizziness and spatial tearing,

Zhang Sheng appeared in an exceptionally vast, giant plaza paved with hard, profound black metal.

On the ground beneath his feet, dazzling silver-white runes were engraved, complex enough to make one dizzy, like flowing rivers of light, emitting constant and powerful spatial fluctuations.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

Blinding white light frequently flashed in various parts of the plaza. Each time it lit up, one or several Cultivators appeared out of thin air, evidently all teleported from distant places.

The entire plaza was bustling with people, all sorts of individuals hurrying about, their whispers and footsteps forming a noisy background.

Zhang Sheng looked up. The plaza was not open to the sky; it was completely enclosed by an extremely high dome, also inscribed with countless dark golden runes.

The surrounding walls were likewise thick and solid, densely covered with defensive and Restriction runes, emitting a terrifying pressure that isolated the entire plaza into an independent spatial fortress.

The only exit was an extremely wide and long metal corridor, also shimmering with runes.

All Cultivators who arrived via teleportation, like drops of water flowing into a stream, silently and orderly surged towards this single passage.

Zhang Sheng followed the crowd, walking for a long time in the corridor before reaching its end.

The sight before him made him freeze again.

The corridor exit was sealed by a huge gate emitting a pale blue light barrier. In front of the gate was a row of strict checkpoints.

Guards wearing Qinglan Prefecture standard profound armor, with sharp auras and keen eyes, were diligently on duty.

Next to them were more than ten crystal payment counters, with long queues in front of each.

"Everyone line up! Pay the fee and pass through in order!" a military officer who looked like a squad leader shouted sternly, his voice echoing in the vast space.

"Why are you pushing? If you dare to cut in line again, I'll chop off your paws!" Another hot-tempered guard glared at a Cultivator trying to inch forward.

The sound from the payment counter clearly reached him:

"Entry fee for Qinglan Prefecture's directly administered territory! One thousand spiritual crystals for Divine Breath Realm! Spiritual Qi tax of ten spiritual crystals per day! Minimum pre-payment of ten thousand spiritual crystals!"

"True Embryo Realm Cultivators, entry fee of ten thousand spiritual crystals! Spiritual Qi tax of one hundred spiritual crystals per day! Minimum pre-payment of one hundred thousand spiritual crystals! Divine Power Realm and above, free passage!"

Zhang Sheng was a bit confused upon hearing this and quickly immersed his Divine Sense into the "omniscient guide" he carried to check.

"Damn it!" Even with his steady Heart-Nature, he couldn't help but curse under his breath,

"In the Prefecture City's directly administered territory, besides the land spirit tax, they actually collect a daily Spiritual Qi tax per person?

Cultivators absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to Cultivate, and they still have to pay money to the Prefecture City?!"

This was simply... too outrageous!

What made him even more speechless was that this wasn't even the central Prefecture City!

The omniscient guide's map clearly showed that this place was still a million li away from the true core of Qinglan Prefecture—the central Prefecture City!

This was merely the outermost entrance to the directly administered territory within a million li radius of the central Prefecture City!

This area, known as the "Qinglan Directly Administered Territory," was like a super city-state enveloped by a powerful Formation.

For ordinary Cultivators, it was much safer than the outside world, and resources were more concentrated and abundant.

But the prerequisite for enjoying all this was to bear the shockingly high "Spiritual Qi tax."

At the same time, this was also the gathering place for the headquarters of various major forces in Qinglan Prefecture.

Even top Sects like the Eight Gods Sect had their mountain gates established within this directly administered territory with its high Spiritual Qi tax.