554: Chapter 555 Is this thing even safe to touch?

Lu Ming carefully examined the detailed rules for promotion in the Tianbao Treasury, where the required Power Of Faith for each rank was clearly marked.

He started counting upwards from the Ninth Rank.

From the Ninth Rank to the Eighth Rank required half a year of Power Of Faith.

From the Eighth Rank to the Seventh Rank, it required one year.

From the Seventh Rank to the Sixth Rank, one and a half years...

And so on; each rank promotion added another half a year of Power Of Faith.

Two years, two and a half years, three years, three and a half years, four years.

From the Ninth Rank Spirit Official to the Perfection of the First Rank, it would take a total of eighteen years of Power Of Faith.

And from the First Rank Spirit Official to the Ninth Rank True Official, it would require an additional two years.

In other words, if he wanted to pay-to-win his way through the Spirit Official ranks and step into the ranks of the True Officials, he would need a total of twenty years of Power Of Faith.

Lu Ming looked at that number and fell silent for a moment.

Twenty years of Power Of Faith was basically double the consumption of normal Cultivate.

However, as the saying goes, "Buy early to enjoy, buy late for a discount, don't buy and pay with your life."

Since it was a one-click upgrade, the cost naturally had to be higher than normal Cultivate.

He understood the logic, but the problem was that he only had the ten years of Power Of Faith given to him by Patrol Envoy Zhang.

Ten years of Power Of Faith could at most raise his rank to the Third Rank Spirit Official.

Stuck in a neither-here-nor-there position, there were still two levels left before reaching the First Rank, and after the First Rank, the threshold of the True Official was still waiting for him.

Ten years of Power Of Faith was just enough for him to taste the sweetness, but not enough to reach his goal.

Not too much, not too little, just right.

Lu Ming slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and suddenly smiled.

It had to be said that this move by Patrol Envoy Zhang was truly ingenious.

This ten-year "gift" was like precisely cast bait, letting him taste the sweetness and see hope, making him think that as long as he took one more step forward, he could reach a higher position.

But the distance of this one step was like a chasm!

Unless... he was willing to borrow!

At this moment, Lu Ming's gaze shifted downward, and at the bottom of the Tianbao Treasury page, he saw a line of inconspicuous small text.

[Divine Way Interconnectivity].

He curiously clicked on that entry, and a new interface popped up, with a style similar to the main page of the Tianbao Treasury.

What met his eyes was a line of text.

[With faith as proof, official rank as collateral, and Dao as security, we provide convenient turnover to solve your urgent needs.]

Was this the "We-something-Loan" or "Du-something-Man" of the Divine Way?

Lu Ming raised an eyebrow and continued to scroll down.

The business content of this [Divine Way Interconnectivity], in short, was this.

Depending on one's official rank, the amount that could be borrowed varied.

Spirit Officials could borrow up to five years of Power Of Faith, True Officials up to ten years, and Dark Officials up to twenty years.

For higher official ranks, the limit would be further relaxed.

Of course, this was only limited to using one's official rank as collateral.

If other treasures, Divine Ability, or Secret Manual were used as collateral, the loan amount could naturally be higher.

However, for a newcomer like Lu Ming who had just entered the Divine Court, apart from this newly acquired Spirit Official divine position, he had almost no collateral worth mentioning.

After all, his Immortal Dao methods couldn't be brought out, and everything else had been converted into the Divine Way system.

"Too unscrupulous!"

Thinking of this, Lu Ming couldn't help but curse in his heart.

If one followed this logic, in fact, before he converted to the Divine Way, the Luck and Origin he carried could theoretically also have been used as collateral.

But there was a paradox here.

If you don't refine the Official Seal, you cannot convert the Divine Power.

If you cannot convert the Divine Power, you cannot see the Tianbao Treasury interface.

If you cannot see the interface, you cannot take out a loan.

But once you have refined the Official Seal, your previous dao attainment will be replaced by the Divine Power, and it can no longer be evaluated as collateral.

In other words, when you were at your wealthiest, you didn't have the qualifications.

But by the time you had the qualifications, you were already broke.

What the hell...

Lu Ming shook his head; he finally understood it completely.

This Divine Court was different from the vast majority of factions he had seen before.

Here, capital ruled, and the Power Of Faith was the only hard currency.

If you have faith, you can buy everything.

If you don't have faith, you can't move an inch.

The ten years of Power Of Faith that Patrol Envoy Zhang gave him were like carefully prepared bait, letting him taste the sweetness first, and then making him realize he couldn't live without it.

And Patrol Envoy Zhang had also calculated that Lu Ming did not have the ability to continue borrowing.

After all, by using his official rank as collateral, he could at most borrow five years of Power Of Faith, but there was still a five-year gap from the Third Rank Spirit Official to the First Rank, which could not be filled no matter what.

Unless he settled down, spent three to five years self-refining, and slowly saved up that five-year gap.

But such was human nature; once one had tasted the pleasure of a "one-click upgrade," who would be willing to go back and bitterly save up?

Lu Ming saw it clearly and already had a plan in mind.

He didn't want to bitterly save money, nor did he want to borrow money and carry debt.

What if he just wanted to get it for free?

Then he would just do what he had to do!

The loan and borrowing business of this Divine Court system was tied to the official rank, and the official rank, at the end of the day, was a condensed object of a person's Karma.

As long as it involved Karma, it was a toy that could be manipulated in Lu Ming's hands.

Wasn't Patrol Envoy Zhang trying to trick him into taking out a loan? Then he would fulfill the other party's wish.

Not only would he borrow, but he would borrow hard, borrow until the end; it didn't matter how much he owed.

Anyway, who would repay the money in the end was not necessarily certain.

However, he was not in a hurry to go find Patrol Envoy Zhang right now.

Going over now would be a bit too early and easily arouse suspicion.

It would be better to take this time to spend that ten years of Power Of Faith, then mortgage his official rank, borrow those five years of Power Of Faith, and go all-in to exchange for an official rank.

Then, he would put on an act of being trapped and having no way out; he believed Patrol Envoy Zhang would definitely be happy to see him like this.

He acted as soon as he thought of it.

Lu Ming reopened the Tianbao Treasury panel, and with a movement of his Divine Thought, he gently slid his finger across the pale golden light screen.

He first found the entrance to "Divine Way Interconnectivity," clicked in, and selected his official rank in the collateral column.

[Supreme Crimson Text Water Virtue Spirit Official].

The page trembled slightly, and a line of prompt popped up: "Ninth Rank Spirit Official, can borrow five years of Power Of Faith. With the position as collateral, interest is returned quarterly, based on an annual interest rate of 36%, calculated daily, with the rest determined by the period. If not repaid when overdue, the official rank will be revoked. Do you confirm?"

Holy crap! The interest is so high!

Translating the above words, it meant settlement by quarter, equivalent to an annualized comprehensive capital cost starting at about 36%, with interest specifically calculated based on the actual number of days the funds were used.

To put it even more simply, it was: borrow nine, pay back thirteen!

This meant that if he borrowed for five years, he would actually only receive four and a half years, and he would have to repay six and a half years when it matured.

It sounded like a trap, and in fact, it really was a trap, but whether the interest was high or not didn't really matter to Lu Ming.

Anyway, he didn't plan to pay it back!

He clicked "Confirm" without hesitation.

The balance on the panel changed slightly, and five years of Power Of Faith were added.

Although he actually only received four and a half years, it still displayed as five years.

He knew that the difference was the service fee that had been directly deducted.

Lu Ming exited Divine Way Interconnectivity and returned to the official rank promotion page.

He looked at the balance of nearly fifteen years of Power Of Faith in his account, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

Then, without hesitation, he went all-in!

In an instant, his official rank started from the Ninth Rank and soared all the way up!

Ninth Rank, Eighth Rank, Seventh Rank... Third Rank, Second Rank!

That fifteen years of Power Of Faith was like a floodgate opening, rushing away for a thousand miles, and instantly hitting the bottom.

At the same time, the changes in Lu Ming were manifesting rank by rank.

At first, it was just the edges of his robe that rippled with a circle of pale golden water patterns, like the surface of a lake soaked in moonlight, with ripples spreading outwards layer by layer.

As his rank increased, those water patterns became denser and brighter.

Spreading from the hem of his robe to his cuffs, and from his cuffs to his collar, it was as if an invisible river was flowing on his robe.

When the aura of promotion finally dissipated completely, Lu Ming slowly lowered his head, examining the changes in himself.

At this moment, the plain cyan robe on his body was no longer what it had been at the beginning.

Pale golden water patterns and cloud Qi flowed between the sleeves, faintly emitting the unique majesty of the Divine Way.

He looked like a water god who had just walked out of a river, carrying a clear, moist, and steady demeanor.

As Lu Ming raised his hand, water light flowed around his fingers, condensing into a water-wave mirror in front of him.

Looking at his new attire in the mirror, Lu Ming nodded with satisfaction.

"I have to say, it's quite good-looking."

This attire was completely different from the robes of the Cultivation World; it lacked the dazzling treasure aura, but had a unique majesty of the Divine Way.

However, the price of becoming more handsome was that his account balance plummeted from fifteen years to zero.

Lu Ming smacked his lips, feeling a bit unsatisfied.

Although he was back to square one overnight, this brand-new experience was really great.

If only the Immortal Dao could be this simple.

At this moment, he was already standing at the Second Rank Spirit Official position.

A warm Divine Power surged out from the Official Seal, flowing through his Meridians, Dantian, and Divine Soul, slowly elevating his authority as a Water Virtue Spirit Official.

Lu Ming sensed slightly and realized that now his range for summoning wind and rain was larger, the distance for sensing water veins was further, and his speed for condensing Power Of Faith was a bit faster.

But that kind of improvement, for Lu Ming, was like dropping a drop of water into the ocean; he could hardly feel any change.

Mainly because his threshold was too high now; this bit of promotion was like an adult gaining the strength of an infant, not even worth mentioning as a drop in the bucket.

However, he wasn't coveting this bit of cultivation anyway; it was useless.

Lu Ming looked at the empty balance, then looked at the text "Second Rank Spirit Official," and nodded with satisfaction.

He was penniless now, with only the position of a Second Rank Spirit Official left.

Now that he was penniless, if he couldn't repay that loan when it matured, not only would his official rank be revoked, but he would even be directly erased.

So now he looked like he had no way out, which was probably what Patrol Envoy Zhang wanted to see.

If he went to ask for help now and didn't swindle the other party out of a thousand or eight hundred years of Power Of Faith, Lu Ming would be doing a disservice to himself for lowering his status to act with a group of ants!

Thinking of this, Lu Ming took out the communication jade talisman given to him by Patrol Envoy Zhang, and his fingertips gently rubbed it for a moment.

Then he injected a wisp of Divine Power and sent out a short message.

...

Ke City, East Street.

A restaurant named "Divine Palace" stood at the most prosperous corner of the street, ninety-nine stories high, with flying eaves and bucket arches, built entirely of warm jade, glowing with a gentle light in the night.

Hundreds of glazed lamps were hung outside the building, lit with incense spiritual flames, illuminating the entire restaurant as if it were daytime.

At the entrance stood two blue stone Qilin, holding night-luminescent pearls in their mouths, the light soft and gentle.

The guests coming and going were all divine officials dressed in official uniforms, and occasionally there were a few figures with deeper auras, walking with composure and extraordinary bearing.

At this moment, in a private room on the ninetieth floor, the highest point of the Lan Yue Restaurant, Patrol Envoy Zhang sat alone at the table.

The table in front of him was full of delicacies, spiritual light flowing, and the aroma of wine overflowing.

A plate of "Jade Dew Flat Peaches" carved from spiritual fruits was placed in front of him, next to a pot of "Drunken Immortal Dew" brewed from incense spiritual spring, as well as a few dishes of spiritual food with excellent color and fragrance, all of which were carefully selected High Grade.

But these good things that could usually make him drink a few more cups failed to arouse any interest in him at this moment.

He held a communication jade talisman in his hand, his brows slightly furrowed.

He knew too well what kind of trap he had set for Lu Ming.

Ten years of Power Of Faith could at most raise the position to the Third Rank Spirit Official...

These were all the results of his own calculations.

So he was not afraid that Lu Ming wouldn't take the bait; he had even thought of the persuasion speech to make the other party willingly sign the IOU.

But how long had it been! That ten years was already used up?

Was this kid a bit too impatient?

Patrol Envoy Zhang always felt that something was wrong.

But on second thought, the other party was an outsider, with no roots or foundation, alone; this kind of person was the easiest to manipulate!

Don't look at the fact that his work was not decent; to put it nicely, he was an "Acting Heaven Patrol Envoy," but in reality, he was just a patrolling security guard who guarded the gate.

But when it came to real authority, he was comparable to the "Dark Official" level.

Wanting to bully a newly arrived Spirit Official was simply too easy!

Patrol Envoy Zhang picked up his wine glass and took a sip, the warm wine liquid sliding down his throat.

"Forget it, it will be clear when the person arrives."

He put down the wine glass, tapped his fingers gently on the table twice, then closed his eyes and waited quietly.

Not long after, the door of the private room was knocked on from the outside.

"Dong, dong, dong."

Patrol Envoy Zhang opened his eyes, his expression as usual, and said in a deep voice.

"Come in."

The door was pushed open, and Lu Ming stood at the doorway, smiling slightly at him.

At this moment, he was dressed in a plain cyan official robe, the robe fitting well, with no extra ornaments.

But he had an air about him that one could not ignore.

"Hmm? Second Rank Spirit Official?"

Because Lu Ming didn't restrain his own aura at all, as soon as he entered the door, Patrol Envoy Zhang noticed the change in his official rank and grade, and his expression couldn't help but change, instantly turning gloomy.

"Damn it, why did he go and touch "Divine Way Interconnectivity"!"

Patrol Envoy Zhang cursed in his heart.

It went without saying that the Power Of Faith he gave could at most raise him to the Third Rank Spirit Official, and if he wanted to become a Second Rank, it was impossible to do so in a short time except by borrowing.

So there was only one possibility: the other party had touched "Divine Way Interconnectivity."

But in his expectation, after the other party found that the Power Of Faith was not enough to spend, the first thing they would do was come to him for help.

Then he would be able to lend money to the other party in his own name.

This way, even if the other party couldn't pay it back in the end, the other party's official rank and dao attainment would all belong to him.

This way, without a middleman to earn the price difference, he would make a killing!

As a result, this stinking outsider actually went to touch that "Divine Way Interconnectivity" first!

"Is that thing something a human can touch!"