My version of Heavenly Dao is too old, so it's full of bugs.

Chapter 249 Kindergarten Realm Expert? What the heck?

After an unknown period of time, the strange phenomenon caused by the fall of the gods in the heavens finally disappeared.

Without external influence
The bewitching smoke in the forbidden area once again obscured Li Wei's vision, causing him to lose his sense of the outside world.

Fortunately, he still had the internet cable connected to the dark web, which allowed him to contact Xiao Zi remotely and learn about the outside world through her.

"How are you doing over there?"

"I just left the territory of the Elysium Demon Land. If I had been any slower, I estimate I would have been trapped inside the Demon Land."

Logically speaking, the ten hours that Bo Xun and Li Wei agreed upon should have been more than enough time for Xiao Zi to evacuate.

However, because of Li Wei's delay, she had to spend a lot of time raising money, improving her cultivation, and supporting Li Wei. In addition, she also had a group of professional telemarketing employees that she had painstakingly trained and had to take with her.

So at this moment, she finally managed to evacuate the Blissful Demon Land and enter Fatai City, the only city in the eastern coastal region of Central Continent that had not been swallowed up by Mara.

As one of the Buddhist holy sites established during the period of the flourishing of Western religions in two different versions, this place has a large number of Buddhist temples. Even though Buddhism has declined today, it is still magnificent and the whole city is imbued with a strong Buddhist power.

Therefore, when Mara built the Heart Tribulation System, this city was able to block the invasion of the demons and preserve the Heavenly Tribulation System of the Heavenly Court. Now it has become the front line of the Heavenly Court's forces fighting against the Blissful Demon Land.

If you look at the map, you will see that on the border where the Blissful Demon Land and the Central Continent intersect, Mount Fatai, where Fatai City is located, is like a sharp knife piercing into the Blissful Demon Land, looking down on the entire Demon Land from a high place.

Boundless Buddhist light was born in the city, firmly blocking the inner demon system from the outside world, and also blocking the spacetime mist that the Great Sage Equaling Heaven used to shroud the demon land.

So when the demon army in the Wolf City began to ravage the 72 coastal cities, this place became a haven for the vast majority of cultivators, attracting a large number of civilian cultivators who were fleeing.

Xiao Zi managed to blend into the group of fleeing cultivators and successfully entered the city.
The divine officials of the Immortal Abode in Fatai City arrived immediately and methodically conducted various tests on them. This was partly to prevent demons from infiltrating their ranks, and partly to arrange different temporary accommodations and emergency supplies for them based on their cultivation levels.
At the same time, they also forcibly conscripted refugee cultivators above the Foundation Establishment level and converted them into soldiers on the spot.

Xiao Zi observed for a moment,
The officials of Fatai City showed no signs of tension or agitation throughout the entire process, as if they had rehearsed it countless times before; their calmness was almost excessive.

"You stinky master, if you were one of these divine officials, would you be as calm as they are after suddenly finding yourself on the front lines of the war between Heaven and the Blissful Demon Land?"

"Heh! If it were me, I would have run away by now!"

Li Wei and Xiao Zi were bound by blood, so through the dark web, he could clearly see what was happening on Xiao Zi's side and truly feel the special atmosphere of Fatai City.

"It seems that these people have long been prepared to fight against the Blissful Demon Land! The terrain and location of Fatai City, as well as the Buddhist foundation that this place has accumulated over a long period of time, are really too suitable for fighting against the Blissful Demon Land."

"If I'm not mistaken, this should be the front line chosen by His Majesty!"

As if to verify Li Wei's words, countless demonic and evil energies suddenly rose into the sky outside Fatai City, followed by tens of thousands of evil and heretical cultivators rushing in from afar in perfect unison!

—These are the demon armies in Sirius City.

The moment the demonic invasion was detected, the formation in Fatai City was activated, keeping the demons at bay.

at the same time,

A familiar figure suddenly rushed out of Fatai City and arrived at the edge of the formation, leading a large army composed of divine officials and refugees, confronting the demonic cultivators.

"It's Huang Xiang!!"

Li Wei never expected to see Huang Xiang, who had been missing for so long, here.

However, upon closer reflection, all of this makes perfect sense.

Now that Li Wei is trapped in the Bewitching Forbidden Land, the Heavenly Court naturally needs a new leader to command the army and fight against the demons.

Huang Xiang was undoubtedly the best candidate. Although he no longer had the Jade Talisman of the Heavenly Emperor's Special Envoy, he was still the recognized Heavenly Emperor's Special Envoy, so he was able to gain the support of immortal mansions and divine blood families from all over the world.

"Old Huang is really a brick; wherever the Heavenly Emperor needs him, he'll be moved there. But something seems off about his condition?"

Li Wei and Huang Xiang were already quite familiar with each other, so through Xiao Zi's gaze, he immediately recognized that Huang Xiang had probably put on makeup today, but the thick makeup couldn't hide the unusual pallor on his face.
Sometimes he would suddenly frown, as if he were suffering some unimaginable horror, and his whole expression would appear very gloomy.

"Could it be that he, like me, has been cursed?"

Thinking of this, Li Wei warned Xiao Zi, "Try to use your 'Great Thief's Secrets' entry to hide for a while. If that doesn't work, ask Mi Hongzhi for help. In short, whatever you do, don't get conscripted to be cannon fodder!"

"Don't worry, Master! I'm already at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, and with the Great Thief's Heavenly Secrets entry, even a Nascent Soul cultivator might not be able to detect me!"

"But you must be careful on your end!"

Xiao Zi thinks,

Compared to Fatai City,
The real danger lies in the Bewitching Forbidden Zone where Li Wei is located!
"It's a pity we can't get in touch with the dark web right now, otherwise, with His help, you should be able to get out."

"After all, the Bewitching Smoke is a divine killing move, and it is located in the human realm, with the barrier between immortals and mortals! Therefore, without the Dark Web personally descending to the mortal realm, it may not be able to suppress the laws of this fog by acting only through the network cable."

Speaking of which,

Li Wei suddenly paused, then rubbed his chin violently and said, "Speaking of which, could the reason we haven't been able to contact the Dark Web be because of the power of this bewitching smoke?"

Xiao Zi was startled upon hearing this: "But we can not only communicate now, we can also transfer cultivation power!" "Heh, what if someone specifically wants you to transfer their cultivation power to me?"

A hint of seriousness appeared in Li Wei's eyes.

If a god truly resides in this forbidden area, then their power is beyond the comprehension of ordinary people. Given the vast difference in their status, even the network cable of the dark web is not necessarily absolutely safe!

Therefore, Li Wei must prepare for the worst.

This time, he might not need the power of the dark web!
While Li Wei was pondering, he did not stop moving forward. After traveling several hundred miles, spots of rust began to appear on the ground in front of him.

The peddler who was leading the way immediately beamed with joy: "Lord Ao, we've already reached the territory of Rust City."

Li Wei looked up and...

The bewitching smoke that had been shrouding the surroundings suddenly dissipated, revealing a vast rust plain covering at least a hundred kilometers.

On the plain, there is a rectangular hill covered with countless Gothic-style rusted steel buildings, with dense spikes, domes and colorful tiles stretching endlessly, making it look incredibly crowded.

Furthermore, the numerous neon signs covering these buildings make the entire city look even uglier, like a patient dressed in brightly colored clothes but already terminally ill, which is inexplicably disgusting.

"Is this Rust City?"

Perhaps because he had been in the Celestial Sphere for too long, Li Wei was still somewhat unaccustomed to this wasteland cyberpunk-style steel and mechanical city, and the cultivators in this city were also not quite used to him.

On the surrounding plain, free of the bewitching smoke, numerous robots were collecting rust from the ground and then using it to grow all sorts of special metal "plants."

Considering the existence of the peddler, these robots were probably originally living cultivators or mortals, but they were transformed into their current form due to assimilation by the laws of the Bewitching Forbidden Land.

As Li Wei approached, several mechanical cultivators nearby raised their heads like wolves, sniffing the air.

"It smells like a living person!"

"I smell it too, the aroma of blood and flesh is so wonderful. I wonder if he would sell his flesh and blood."

"We can't afford to buy it even if we sell it! Fresh flesh and blood are the top resources in Rust City. Only geniuses at the University Realm can afford them. We poor bastards should just obediently collect more rust, plant more iron fruits, and earn more money!"

"Exactly! It's better to save money for education than to sell meat! My great-great-great-granddaughter was just born, and one month is the perfect time to start building a foundation. I have to find her a top-tier foundation class this time, otherwise she won't be able to get into a top kindergarten, and then she won't be able to get into Tiexi Primary School. Without a primary school diploma, she won't be able to find a job at all!"

"Sigh, how can ordinary people like us even dream of the status of a top elementary school student? If you can get a diploma from a top kindergarten, you can at least become a small leader in the scavenging and planting department."

Li Wei: ? ? ? !

Oh no, is this how you people in the forbidden area roll your clothes?
The peddler, always observant, knew what Li Wei was thinking from his expression, so he quickly said, "This is a forbidden area, a remote and impoverished place. I'm afraid I've made a fool of myself in front of you, Lord Ao!"

"But there's nothing we can do about it. Our resources in the Bewitching Forbidden Land are limited, and cultivators have such long lifespans. If we didn't have strict resource allocation, we would have been finished long ago."

"Therefore, in order to differentiate cultivators and concentrate resources on more talented and powerful individuals, Rust City established an educational system long ago that includes tutoring classes, kindergartens, primary schools, junior high schools, high schools, and universities!"

"Different educational backgrounds not only represent different rights, but also different jobs, different resource channels, and even diplomas are licenses for advancement and cross-border mobility. Without a primary school diploma, one cannot build a foundation; without a junior high school diploma, one cannot form a core."

"So everyone is frantically working on getting a degree."

"But don't be fooled by how outrageous this system may seem; it's actually the fairest system ever! At least everyone has the opportunity to take the exam, and only by passing the exam can they obtain a diploma!"

“Even the city lord’s son has to compete with us, starting from scratch and taking exams step by step to obtain the necessary qualifications in order to acquire the corresponding resources. If he doesn’t do well on the exams, he will be forced to take basic jobs just like us and contribute to Rust City.”

The peddler conveniently ignored the fact that the city lord had hundreds of sons and continued:

"In addition, we don't need to conduct interviews, which saves a lot of room for manual operations."

The peddler couldn't help but smile broadly when he talked about this, seemingly very proud of this educational system.

However, looking at Li Wei, he quickly lost his pride.

The civilization of the outside world in version 7.19 has developed to the point where even contracts have a conscience. They can provide people with five social insurances and one housing fund, and even if they don't receive their expected salary, they can treat it as a loan. What kind of divine world is this?

If even the contract is like this, then other benefits are even more out of the question.

Cultivators living in the outside world probably don't need to interact with humans from birth, right?
Perhaps their kindergartens are all completely free?
Do not!
Peddler, you're too narrow-minded.

With such advanced civilization in the outside world, how could they possibly only offer free kindergartens?
Let's imagine something even bolder: maybe everyone in the outside world can attend primary school now, or even have a junior high school diploma?

The peddler couldn't help but feel a little wistful when he thought about such a scene. If he could live in the outside world, he might be a strong person in the junior high school level by now. Why would he have to do such a miserable job?

what! !

Your Rusty City actually manages to assign jobs to everyone and conduct fair exams for all, even the city lord's son has to take the exam too?!
Li Wei recalled the scene when he participated in the Immortal Examination, where a group of divine disciples, clad in divine armor, swept through the battlefield; then he thought of the group of second-generation immortals grinding for experience by killing poor ghosts in the Dragon Transformation Realm; and finally, he thought of the countless college graduates in Xinhai City who couldn't find jobs after graduation.
He couldn't help but sigh with admiration:
"I never imagined that your rusty immortal civilization was so advanced!"

"If everyone in this world could take exams as fairly as you do, and if everyone could be assigned a job, that would be wonderful!"

Peddler: ? ? !
(End of this chapter)