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

Chapter 250 The Neon Lights of Rusty City
The peddler was completely stunned by Li Wei's words.

what?
The people of the Three Realms actually envy our examination system in the Forbidden Lands, and even say that our immortal civilization is advanced?
Isn't something a little off?
The reason we created this system is because we have too few resources and the lifespan of cultivators is too long, so we have no choice but to forcibly reform the social system to ensure that everyone has a way to survive.

You people living in the normal world can't possibly be more cunning than us, right?

impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
The Three Realms are so vast, and countless gods bestow their blessings. The immortal civilization is so advanced that one doesn't even need to endure arduous cultivation; one can simply buy and sell cultivation levels.

How could a place like this possibly envy our Rust City?

After thinking it over, the peddler quickly came up with a reasonable explanation—Lord Ao was just being polite!

As expected of modern cultivators from an advanced civilization, they are so polite!

The system in Rusty City is so narrow-minded, our immortal civilization is so backward, and we don't even have a deity to guide our souls.
But he was still willing to praise us from the bottom of his heart.

Is this the quality of modern monks?
The peddler seemed to see the word "emotional intelligence" on Li Wei's face. He must have been afraid that I, a local, would feel ashamed, so he deliberately found two points to praise my Rust Belt City system.
He's so kind!
It's truly amazing that cultivators from the outside world can even cultivate such a luxury as kindness!
The peddler then bowed deeply to Li Wei again: "Our Rust City is nothing but a place barely surviving, yet you find something commendable in it. If we're talking about civilization, you are the truly civilized one!"

Li Wei thinks this peddler has the potential to be a "cunning villain"!
Perhaps in the peddler's worldview, everything outside is good, so even when Li Wei praised the Rust City, he ultimately attributed it to the politeness of outside civilization, without considering that their system was truly excellent.

Everyone competes fairly, earns resources based on performance, and is guaranteed a job. There are no big companies or corporations to exploit you!

What an amazing world this is!

But instead, you're preoccupied with longing for the outside world?
If I really threw you out and let you experience the iron fist of capital, you'd know how happy you are now.

Li Wei suddenly remembered another question: "You just said that diplomas from schools here can be used as realm permits?"

The peddler nodded: "As you know, when our Bewitching Forbidden Land appeared, cultivators didn't need a permit to break through their cultivation realm."

"Later, the Heavenly Dao version 6.14 was updated, which added the requirement that cultivators need a license to break through realms. The cultivators here do not have realm licenses, so they can only break through by undergoing tribulation lightning. As a result, no one has advanced for several hundred years."

"Fortunately, the city lord later implemented reforms. He learned from the school assessment systems of other places and reformed the old system of Rust City, establishing Rust Kindergarten, Rust Elementary School, junior high school, high school, and university, giving us opportunities to advance step by step."

Li Wei's expression had unconsciously become extremely serious, and he couldn't help but confirm again, "So, you only need to pass the exam and get a diploma to advance directly without having to go through the tribulation?"

"Haha, what's so strange about this? You cultivators from the outside world should also be able to avoid tribulation by passing the test, right?"

There's a loophole in this bewitching forbidden zone!

Li Wei had never heard of any family exam that could replace the Heavenly Dao's assessment for advancement.

Even the Celestial Examination that covered the entire Celestial Sphere was actually just a normal entrance exam.

At the same time, the various diplomas you obtain in the Celestial Sphere do not inherently contain any extraordinary abilities, and they cannot replace the Realm Permit.

If the city lord can use the education and examination system to replace the tribulation test, then there must be a loophole in his system!

Li Wei couldn't help but ask curiously, "What is your city lord's cultivation level?"

The peddler wasn't entirely sure either: "The city lord has been teaching at the university since the last version, but because he rarely goes out, I've never been to the university, so I don't know his specific abilities."

"However, judging from his lifespan, he should be at least at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, or at least the Divine Transformation stage."

To span two versions, it would require at least ten thousand years of lifespan!
For an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator to live to this age, it would require an immense amount of resources and countless life-extending techniques.

However, this rusty city possesses special laws that can transform people into mechanical life forms, greatly extending their lifespan. Therefore, it is not incomprehensible that someone at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage has survived to this day.

However, the opponent is more likely to be a Nascent Soul cultivator!
Thinking of this, Li Wei felt even more wary: "The cultivators here seem to be very sensitive to flesh and blood. If I enter the city like this, I'll probably cause a lot of trouble. Do you have a way to help me conceal the aura of flesh and blood?"

The peddler asked, puzzled, "Why don't you just use the laws of steel and machinery to modify your body?"

In his view, Li Wei must be a powerful cultivator of the Iron and Steel Mechanical Path! As long as the laws are applied, concealing his aura wouldn't be a piece of cake, right?
Li Wei shook his head: "I want to find other ways."

After a moment of contemplation, the peddler suddenly took out a set of magical limbs and handed them to Li Wei: "These magical limbs have the effect of concealing one's aura. Although they cannot prevent powerful individuals from spying on you, they should be enough for temporary use."

After checking it over and confirming that there were no problems, Li Wei put it on. Sure enough, the fleshy aura on his body began to be suppressed, and a strong smell of rust emerged instead.

"It seems like I can still smell your breath."

The peddler took out a pile of materials and made a breathing collector on the spot for him to wear: "This thing will collect all the air you exhale, compress it and store it in a sealed container, so that others can't smell the life force in your body."

After donning the magic limbs, Li Wei's physique became noticeably larger, and with the addition of the breathing device, he looked like a cybernetic monster, perfectly fitting the aesthetics of Rust City.

What permits do you need to enter the city?

"Of course there are. In order to prevent some people with ulterior motives from running into the city and occupying public resources, all cultivators entering the city will have their identity tokens checked."

"However, because our resources are limited, let alone setting up a verification array, we can hardly guarantee the energy to lay out the spiritual artifacts. So apart from a few city gates where cultivators are checking things, other places only have ordinary surveillance."

"With your cultivation level, you can easily bypass the blind spots of surveillance and enter the city. Just be careful not to be discovered by the patrol team afterwards."

As he spoke, the peddler took out a pocket watch and checked the time.

“It’s almost four o’clock. The cultivators who went out of the city to scavenge and plant iron trees should be off work soon. When we blend into the crowd, we will be less likely to be discovered.”

what,
You're leaving get off work at 4 PM?

Those cultivators on your side are truly despicable! Just as I thought.

When the time came, the robots working on the Rust Plains put down their tools and began to return to Rust City.

A hint of envy couldn't help but appear in Li Wei's eyes.

"Didn't someone just say they wanted to earn more money? Why isn't anyone staying to work overtime?"

"There's only so much work in our Rust City, so how much each person does has already been allocated. If you do more, others will do less, which will squeeze out other cultivators' living space and steal their resources."

"So working overtime is a privilege reserved for those with only an elementary school diploma! Only geniuses can access more resources!"

"So this plain is just going to be left barren like this? Wouldn't that just waste the rest of the time?"

“The cultivators here work in six shifts, with each person working four hours. The cultivators on shift will be arriving soon.”

When the two arrived at the gate of the Rusty City, they happened to run into a group of cultivators coming out of the city to hand over their work to those who were leaving for the day.

Seeing the joyful expressions on both sides.

Li Wei suddenly felt a little puzzled: "Logically speaking, the fewer resources there are, the greater the competition should be, but the relationships between cultivators here are better than I expected!"

The saying goes, "Bad people come from poor and remote areas."

Throughout history, the poorer the place, the more cultivators like to compete and form small cliques to fight for power and profit.

Humans are greedy!
When resources are limited, shouldn't everyone fight tooth and nail for profits and expand their rights?

But Rust City's choice was to split one job into six, which means that the money that one person originally earned was divided among six people.

If this happened outside, wouldn't he be torn to shreds by those who criticize him?
But the cultivators in the Rusty City actually accepted it, and they accepted it so harmoniously.

How is this done?
Vaguely,
Li Wei sensed a trace of law; could this also be the work of that city lord?
With this curiosity in mind, Li Wei carefully navigated through the crowd, avoiding surveillance cameras, and then made his way into the Rust City.

From the outside, the city already looked crowded enough, but once inside, it was even more crowded than I had imagined.

Those towering steel buildings actually cover thousands of meters in area and have a considerable cross-section, but they appear to be long and thin like Gothic buildings only because they are built so tall.

Between the buildings, countless spiderweb-like power lines intertwine, capturing all the already limited natural light that falls into the city.

That's when the sheer number of neon signs becomes necessary.

If it weren't for these signs providing light, this city would probably be like an abyss, completely devoid of light.

Of course,
With a cultivator's level of cultivation, it's impossible for them not to see it.

However, being able to see and being able to accept are two different things. Even a cultivator cannot live in darkness forever.

That's why they installed so many neon signs at the city station, and designed them to be so bright and colorful.

They are searching for hope!
Even knowing that this city is a city of death growing on rust, they still want to paint the corpses with color, to light up a small hope.

Snapped! !

A mechanical iron ball was kicked from a distance and landed at Li Wei's feet.

Several mechanical children, only half the height of Li Wei, ran over and looked at the magical limbs on Li Wei's body with some awe.
Although they are still young.

But we also know that not everyone can equip so many magical limbs.

After mentally preparing myself for a while, I timidly asked, "Uncle, can you give us the ball?"

"no problem."

Li Wei kicked the ball over.

After saying thank you, the little machines hugged the ball and ran back to the neon lights to continue playing.

The dazzling neon lights and the dark, decaying city intertwine, making even the small steel machine seem soft.

"Peddler, are there many children here?"

“Countless! As I said before, although we may look like machines, we are still cultivators and still have the ability to reproduce. According to the latest population statistics, there are at least several million children in Rust City now.”

Li Wei's expression was somewhat complicated: "I see..."

No wonder they're turning on so many neon lights even with such a tight energy supply...

Without this light,

The children will have nowhere to play.

Then the city would die!
Thinking of this, Li Wei suddenly changed his mind: "I didn't expect your city lord to be such an idealist! In that case, take me to meet him!"

(End of this chapter)