“I heard the admission quotas for the Jinling Academy caused quite a stir. It was somewhat settled after a period of intense struggle, but now with the education reforms and the Imperial Court’s resolute stance—ignoring the opinions of prominent families and high officials, insisting on cultivation aptitude as the primary admission criterion—tsk tsk, people on the black market are offering sky-high prices, even hundreds of millions of Star Coins, for Spiritual Vessels, all to boost their children’s cultivation levels before admissions.”
“Whoa! Don’t talk nonsense. Spiritual Vessels are rare, but there are some across the country, though their quality varies greatly. How could they fetch such a high price? If you were talking about Spirit Gates, that might be more believable.”
“You yourself said the quality varies. You should know I’m talking about the good Spiritual Vessels. Even the inferior ones cost at least a million Star Coins, and you might not even be able to buy them.”
“Heh, your information is outdated. It’s too late even if you buy a Spiritual Vessel now. The Academy has already mostly pre-selected its students, and basically, every one of them has a Spiritual Vessel. A few even have Small Spirit Gates in their families. Otherwise, you’d need extraordinary innate aptitude, blessed by Heaven, to secure a spot in the Academy.”
Everyone was surprised. Pre-selected already? The Academy worked that fast?
The speaker took a sip of wine, squinted, and chuckled lightly. “You all haven’t thought it through. Even before the Spiritual Energy revival, rumors were rampant. Many influential figures firmly believed them, so they must have had reliable inside information. These important people were prepared long ago. If they were, how could the Academy, the very core of our Danzhou, not know? They were fully prepared. The remaining spots will be like thousands of soldiers and horses crossing a single-plank bridge. Of course, these ‘horses’ must be geniuses who can stand out even across all of Danzhou. Ordinary folks can’t even get through the Academy’s gates. Don’t look at me like that. The reason I know this is because my relative’s child, who has a Spiritual Vessel, managed to pull some strings and get reviewed by the Academy’s internal examiners, but still failed in the end.”
Nowadays, those who dared to openly speak of possessing a Spiritual Vessel usually had significant backing. A’Diao glanced at the man’s wristwatch and knew he was considerably wealthy, likely one of the foremost rich households even in the county town.
There were rich people in Qishan, but not many this wealthy. A’Diao tried hard to discern the man’s features… Damn it, he couldn’t be from the Jiang Family, could he?
A’Diao lowered her head and silently finished her meal. Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly heard people discussing other matters.
Someone, somewhere, had gone missing.
With dead bodies everywhere these days, was someone going missing even considered news?
A’Diao initially paid no mind, but then she heard them lamenting that most of the missing were children.
Huh? Demonic Spirits causing trouble?
“Who knows? Anyway, they haven’t figured it out over in Lingcheng, but children are still disappearing. Public discontent is boiling over, and the local officials are in a terrible fix. It looks like, ten to one, their official positions are at risk.”
Even a small county town like this had managed to identify the elusive Fuqiu Demonic Spirit, yet the grand city of Lingcheng, a medium-sized city second only to Jinling, remained clueless. No wonder it was being criticized, and the Imperial Court would surely mete out punishment.
A’Diao was just listening to the commotion and didn’t pay too much attention. The crowd’s discussion soon died down because the Jinling City dock had arrived.
As everyone returned to their cabins to gather their belongings, the middle-aged man suspected to be from the Jiang Family glanced at A’Diao a couple more times.
Strange, this little girl looked somewhat familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before.
That’s right! Wasn’t this the girl his ‘dear’ nephew had been sulking about and wanted to ‘teach a lesson’ to? But they were unfortunately interrupted by people from the Government Office, causing considerable trouble. It even implicated his elder brother, who scolded his nephew. Only now had his nephew quieted down a bit.
But how could such a little girl afford such an expensive ticket and come all the way to Jinling?
The man seemed lost in thought, then suddenly smiled. He released a small, golden ball of light from his handbag and made a call. “Hello, A’Chun, that little girl you mentioned before…”
The dock was shaped like a soaring Golden-Winged Flying Phoenix. The Tang Song Empire revered flying spirit birds, and most official buildings reflected this form, with eagles and hawks being common motifs.
But this dock was truly enormous.
Covering 500 square kilometers, it seemed boundless. For the first time, A’Diao realized that the world she inhabited was a vast and majestic entity, a place where she had to see herself as a mere speck of dust.
And this was just the provincial capital, Jinling.
The dock was not only large, but its decor was also grand and noble. Every brick and tile appeared divinely crafted. The floor was as smooth as a mirror, the high ceiling featured seamlessly integrated patterns and curves, and the carved clouds and sculpted spirits were astonishingly lifelike. Even the imposing soldiers on guard exuded a sense of awe and intimidation.
Of course, A’Diao didn’t fail to notice the weapons and equipment these soldiers carried.
A long saber hung on their right, and on their left, a Forbidden Item firearm adorned with special patterns. Though she didn’t know its function, it was definitely not to be underestimated.
Naturally, what was most captivating were the countless luxury stores scattered throughout the enormous dock’s interior. There were all kinds of shops.
A’Diao’s eyes were about to be overwhelmed. Her poor and rustic attire and demeanor also drew a few disdainful glances from other travelers, some even approaching with a sneer.
A modern-looking lady walked past A’Diao, her high heels clicking. Her slender, graceful figure made her skirt flow like a celestial robe, while attentive and imposing servants and guards followed closely behind her.
However, this wealthy and beautiful lady soon stopped awkwardly, lowering her head, because a group of people in official robes walked past in front of her.
There were men and women, appearing to be members of a family who had come to meet someone.
The group exuded an air of grace and nobility. Their attire was classical and composed. With natural, flowing movements, they treated the vast and solemn dock space as if it were nothing, like they were casually chatting at their own doorstep.
Wherever they passed, onlookers were wary of offending them and acted with deference. They, however, only needed to maintain their family’s poise and dignity.
This was the power represented by official rank. And the official rank represented by this group’s family was likely not low, at least not in Jinling City.
This was a place where she could not afford to be presumptuous.
A’Diao suddenly came to her senses. She decisively changed direction and quickly avoided these distinguished people, determined not to become the protagonist of a cliché: ‘accidentally bumps into a wealthy young lady, is then made to kneel for forgiveness, but she, brave and resilient, refuses to yield to power, instead angrily denounces the other party as shameless, thereby attracting the attention of a noble young master, and so on.’
No, she would kneel. And she would do it instantly.
However… it turned out delicious food could also make her unable to walk away.
Flowing Fragrance Sausage, Nine Pagoda Hot Pot, Braised Pork Knuckle with Rice, Vinegar Fragrant Drunken Crab… So many, so many.
Wuwuwu, why did it smell so good!
Why would a perfectly good transportation hub be set up like this? It’s not a pig farm.
Nonsensical, unorthodox, shameless! Pah!
Muttering curses, A’Diao hugged a pillar to control herself, drooling as she stared eagerly at the entrance of the Vinegar Fragrant Drunken Crab shop. But remembering that time was tight, she, with reddened eyes, pinched the back of her hand and resolutely turned away.
She would eat after finishing her business. She would eat at every single food stall in this dock.
All of them!
She had said it; not even the Tathagata Buddha could stop her from eating!
A’Diao had to keep asking for directions to finally exit the enormous dock, where she couldn’t even tell east from west. Once out, she painfully spent some money on a hovercar and headed straight for a certain educational institution.
It was too difficult. Studying was just burning money.
This damn education reform!
Perhaps situations like A’Diao’s were rare, but with a large population, there were bound to be many others facing similar problems. While ordinary matters could be delayed, children’s education could not. When A’Diao arrived, a long queue had already formed. She ended up waiting for three solid hours, until it was almost closing time, before it was her turn.
A’Diao submitted her information and the official documents from Qishan County High. The staff member at the Jinling Provincial Prefecture’s Household Registration Department initially checked quickly, but then glanced at A’Diao and rapidly typed some more text for another search.
The moment the staff member glanced at her, A’Diao’s heart skipped a beat. It had been like this at Qishan County High before. Normally, checking this kind of information was quick; the slower and more complicated it became, the more it indicated a problem.
She just wanted to transfer her student registration and then enroll in the worst high school in Jinling City. That would be fine.
She had thought transferring student registration would be the simplest thing, especially since she was originally from Jinling. It should have been a matter of just printing it out. How could it… Had some new trouble really cropped up?
A’Diao had a bad feeling.
Indeed, the staff member stared at her and said in a peculiar tone, “I just checked your name and ID number. I did find your enrollment record in Qishan County. However, when I tried to retrieve your more detailed identity information, the system blocked it. This usually only happens with family members of officials, who are protected by law.”
Uh, that was true. She had some faint childhood memories and knew her family had officials. Although her ‘cheap’ father was just a low-ranking minor official back then, he was still within the Tang Song Empire’s protection scope for official ranks. This was to prevent external threats from infiltrating the identity database of court officials and tampering with it. So, once the identities of officials’ families were registered and entered into the secondary database, ordinary investigations couldn’t find them; one had to access the secondary database.
“Yes, I remember my father was a sesame-seed official.”
Her tone was not very respectful, quite casual.
The staff member glanced at her again, said nothing, and continued, “But this shows that you were registered as deceased—died prematurely—twelve years ago.”
A’Diao: “!!!”
Who? Who died prematurely?!
This was the territory of the ‘official daddies.’ Hold it in, hold it in, you can do it!
A’Diao asked sweetly, “Miss, could you tell me the cause of death listed there?”
The staff member replied: “Persistent late nights leading to premature aging, kidney deficiency and physical weakness, combined with a sudden cerebral hemorrhage, resulting in sudden death syndrome.”
A’Diao: “…”
She was only five or six years old back then!!!
If she could channel her Mental Energy right now, its critical hit value would definitely exceed 1000.
A’Diao took three seconds to smooth her ferocious expression and asked the staff member with a smile, “Can you see my family’s current address?”
A person who was supposed to be dead had suddenly reappeared. The staff member was also somewhat baffled. “Usually, yes, but first, we need to confirm your identity is genuine. Please come in for a DNA test to compare with the database.”
A’Diao took the test. After her identity was confirmed, she received the address from the staff member.
Lingcheng?
It seemed he was now an official in Lingcheng. Judging by the address, it looked like a rather nice place.
That damned nouveau riche! Only knows how to get promoted, get rich, and have his wife die! I didn’t expect that having his daughter ‘die’ could also lead to such rapid success!
She still remembered from her childhood that her father was then a newly appointed, refined minor official, handling trivial matters in an unimportant department in Jinling. Later, he was probably assigned to be a county magistrate elsewhere. He had been promoted all the way up and was now in Lingcheng. It was clear her father was diligently ambitious, and his official career had been quite smooth.
As she was leaving, the staff member, mindful that she was an official’s family member and seeing her cheeks puffed out in anger, specifically asked, “Little girl, are you going to find your family and reunite with them now?”
“No, I’m going to cry at a grave.”
“…”
A’Diao: “?”
What’s wrong? It’s not your family’s grave I’m crying at.
As A’Diao left the Household Registration Department, their internal system detected something.
A small, flying surveillance device was tracking the girl.
“There might be a problem. Should we track it?”
“Forget it. She’s just an insignificant little girl. If we had to take responsibility for everyone’s social affairs, wouldn’t we work ourselves to death?”
“True.”
As long as the other party didn’t enter the Household Registration Department’s jurisdiction, they weren’t breaking any rules. They had neither the obligation nor the authority to go out and track them. It was better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
As for the girl’s safety… in these times, were there few dead people?
This is quite literally the biggest novel I’ve translated so far, both in terms of length and effort; hope you guys enjoy and support it.
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