Immortal Dao is dead, I am the mastermind behind it all.

A cultivator at the Transcendent Realm is on par with the Lord of Dongshan City.

Upon leaving the private school, Jiang Zhi Qiu channeled his magical power, donning a dark blue official robe embroidered with cloud patterns, exuding a gentle yet profound aura.

"This kid has great potential; he's already at the ninth level of Qi gathering at such a young age."

Jiang Zhi Qiu was very pleased to see such a talented human cultivator.

"Are you also from outside Dongshan City?"

"Naturally, I am a wanderer who stumbled upon a Qi-gathering technique in the wilderness and hastily embarked on cultivation." Shen Moyan casually fabricated a backstory for himself.

"Judging from your physical strength, it is already comparable to that of an ordinary Transcendent Realm cultivator." Jiang Zhi Qiu stared at Shen Mo Yan. There was an unprecedented maturity in the child's eyes, as well as an aura similar to that of a regional governor.

"Very well, you have your own extraordinary encounter, I will not interfere." Jiang Zhi Qiu shook his head.

"Leave Dongshan City, the sooner the better."

He suddenly said that the days in Dongshan City would not be peaceful from now on.

Shen Moyan did not ask why he left. Through the lecture just now, he had figured out what kind of person Jiang Zhi Qiu was.

He's a good person; perhaps I can seize this opportunity.

"My parents died early, and all my skills were honed in the wilderness. No one taught me, so I just hope to find a way to make a living."

Even if the inspector who is in charge of a prefecture has a low official rank, he is still a powerful official and knows more about the ins and outs than the cultivators in Dongshan City.

Jiang Zhi Qiu roughly scanned Shen Mo Yan with her divine sense, a hint of surprise appearing on her face.

This person is very young, appearing to be twelve or thirteen years old.

The fact that such talent exists in this remote part of the state shows that their potential is limitless.

"I long to glimpse the path to the Great Dao, but I suffer from the lack of guidance. You see..."

Shen Moyan took out the spirit stones from the Cen family father and son, and put them in a brocade pouch.

Sensing the faint sounds of spirit stones colliding inside, Jiang Zhi Qiu suppressed his previous surprise and instead frowned: "At such a young age, you're already resorting to all sorts of tricks."

Oh well, what can you do when this child has no parents?

A person who grows up like this will naturally be adept at interpersonal relationships.

Jiang Zhi Qiu couldn't help but think of the entire Dongshan City, which had been kept in captivity, and let out a long sigh.

"Put it away."

"If you really want to get on the right path, go to the academy in Yunze City."

"The academy is run by Langya Prefecture and only selects students based on their abilities. There's an instructor there, Mr. Zhou, who is very close to me. If you encounter any trouble after you go in, just mention my name, or go find Instructor Zhou and mention my name."

Jiang Zhi Qiu paused for a moment, then added, "Based on your cultivation aptitude, you can directly enter the academy, and the academy will give each student ten low-grade spirit stones as a monthly allowance."

"Thank you for your guidance, sir. Actually, I only have a superficial understanding of cultivation. After I successfully gathered qi, I entered the city and realized that the immortal path known to the world was not what I thought. Only after hearing your explanation today did I avoid going astray!" Shen Moyan said gratefully, tears streaming down his face.

"I'm just stuck in a corner of the world, and I really want to know what the power dynamics of this world are like."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhi Qiu chuckled softly.

"Alright, since you're so eager to learn, let's talk privately for a moment."

"However, I have official business to attend to. I will wait for you at this private school tomorrow at noon."

"OK."

The following day, Shen Moyan wandered alone through the vast city of Dongshan.

He discovered that there were very few cultivators in this city, and few whose aura was stronger than his.

Besides Jiang Zhi Qiu, several other auras, no less powerful than his, emanated from the direction of the City Lord's Mansion.

"May I ask, what is the name of the sect of this city?" Shen Moyan mingled with a group of children who were playing.

"Hey! There's an idiot here!"

"The sect is indeed the sect of the highest order. The master said that one should not casually mention the sect's name, as it would be taboo."

The children chasing and playing on the street laughed and completely ignored Shen Moyan.

"This is going to be difficult."

Shen Moyan let out a long sigh.

He went directly to a corner of the city and searched the soul of a homeless beggar.

"It's too strange that the name of this sect can't even appear in one's soul."

Shen Moyan felt a chill run down her spine upon closer examination.

The beggar did indeed know the sect's title, but during Shen Moyan's soul search, everything about the sect vanished into nothingness.

"Even the name of this sect that the beggar once uttered has been transformed into the □□□ Sect, distorted by a great force."

"Those who know the name of the sect will take its existence for granted, but I was spared because I didn't know it."

Shen Moyan dared not investigate further and had no choice but to return to the private school to continue his cultivation.

The next day, inside the private school.

Jiang Zhiqiu arrived as promised.

Shen Moyan raised an eyebrow. He noticed that Jiang Zhiqi's aura was somewhat weak, clearly indicating that she was injured.

"Then, let's continue our topic from yesterday."

"The forces in the world can be divided into three categories."

"Among these, the Mountain and Sea Sacred Court is the main one, with three thousand states under its jurisdiction. The Xuanhuang Emperor reigns supreme over the eight wastelands, and the governors of the various states govern their respective states."

"Ordinary people who want to cultivate must pass through the city examination, county examination, and state examination, which are three levels of screening. Based on their character, talent, and wisdom, suitable cultivators are selected and appointed by the Holy Court to serve as celestial officials, acting on behalf of Heaven to patrol the human world."

"I am not very talented, but I just passed the state examination last year and became the patrol inspector of Langya Prefecture." Jiang Zhi Qiu said, a hint of pride appearing on his face.

"Secondly, there are the major cultivation sects in the world, and the twenty-one immortal lineages, all of which are said to have close ties with the Immortal Realm."

"After the great changes in the world, the immortal path deteriorated. They kept humans as pets and fed on them. They are all mortal enemies of the Holy Court," Jiang Zhi Qiu said.

"For nearly ten thousand years, the Holy Court has been cracking down on the remnants of the old immortal sects and destroying their ginseng nurseries."

"A ginseng nursery? Just like this Dongshan City?" Shen Moyan pressed.

"Yes and no."

"Dongshan City has a flow of outsiders, so it's not closed off, and it's not exactly a nursery."

As he spoke, Jiang Zhiqi took out a fruit.

Then, in front of Shen Moyan, he turned the fruit over.

On the fruit, there was a strange human face.

"When I first became an inspector, I was patrolling the area near Kongsang County in Langya Prefecture when I found a huge tree that was 30,000 feet tall, and the fruit on it was all human faces like these."

"I was terrified at the time, so I immediately reported it to the higher-ups and then took a piece of the fruit to study."

"I later learned that these fruits were all transformed from humans."

"A disciple of an old immortal sect uprooted a mortal dynasty and refined it to cultivate a human-faced fruit tree."

"In that dynasty, two million mortals, all their life forms were transformed into fruit."

"Those fruits lived out their entire lives on the great tree called the Dynasty, from birth and growth to life, work, and even marriage and children."

This sounded incredible and once again refreshed Shen Moyan's impression of this world.

"Once the human-faced fruit ripens, it will fall, either merging into the roots of a large tree and becoming provisions, or being picked and used in medicine."

Jiang Zhi Qiu grew angrier as she spoke. How could such a horrific tragedy occur in this world?

"However, when the higher-ups arrived, seeing the calm expressions of my senior colleagues and the densely packed files, I realized that this was just the tip of the iceberg!"

"In these three thousand states, in many corners I can't see, this kind of thing happens every single moment!"

Jiang Zhiqi, like an angry young man, kept shouting and cursing.

Upon hearing this, Shen Moyan fell silent.

He never imagined the world could be so crazy.