242: Meat

Xiao Man was chosen!

Xiao Man became an Immortal Child!

Their family produced an Immortal!

In Zhou Tie Zhu and Hui Gu’s eyes, this cooked meat before them brought them more joy than the meat itself.

Zhou Tie Zhu pulled Hui Gu, and they both knelt down on the ground.

“Thank you, County Magistrate… Thank you, County Magistrate!”

The yamen runner saw this, chuckled, and shook the meat.

“Take the meat, I still have to go to the next household!”

Zhou Tie Zhu hurriedly accepted the meat.

The meat still had some weight in his hand. Zhou Tie Zhu estimated that this cooked meat probably weighed five catties… The County Magistrate was truly generous… Hui Gu nudged her husband with her elbow.

She whispered, “The County Magistrate chose so many Immortal Children. I saw that everyone from our village who participated in the selection last time received meat!”

Hui Gu’s words diluted much of Zhou Tie Zhu’s joy.

He looked around, then at the yamen runners following the leading yamen runner.

There was so much meat… If everyone could be chosen as an Immortal Child, then the sense of superiority for his Xiao Man being chosen as an Immortal Child wouldn't be that great.

Not only Zhou Tie Zhu, but others also thought the same.

The leading yamen runner smiled and said, “I said it last time, the County Magistrate is widely accepting Disciples. At first, it’s definitely easy to get in, but once it’s full and there are many people, the requirements will become strict.”

“Don’t look at this batch all being selected; in reality, ninety percent of them will be filtered out. It’s just that the County Magistrate wants them to stay to make up the numbers.”

“Today is the last batch. After this batch, it will be strict to become an Immortal Child.”

Upon hearing this.

Someone in the crowd bravely asked, “Sir, then who will be filtered out, and who will truly pass the selection?”

The leading yamen runner glanced at the person.

He sneered, “How do I have the time to remember so many things!”

The person gave an embarrassed smile and dared not speak again.

But whispers in the crowd continued to come.

“I feel like Heigouzi was definitely left behind by the County Magistrate’s grace.”

“I feel the same way.”

“My Wensheng definitely passed the selection.”

“Just your Wensheng? The one who gets beaten and cries by a girl?”

“What’s wrong? How are you talking! You don’t understand anything, cultivating Immortals depends on Aptitude! On Aptitude! Understand?”

Zhou Tie Zhu thought to himself, his Xiao Man was literate, and so well-behaved and intelligent, she must have passed the selection.

After this turn of events.

In the village, families with young children were all frantically trying to give them to the yamen runners.

There were also some children who had grown taller than their fathers, also wanting to become Immortal Children, but were slapped back by the yamen runners.

Not everyone can be an Immortal Child.

Child… can’t you tell!

After finishing with this village, everyone watched the yamen runners leave.

Zhou Tie Zhu took Hui Gu and closed the courtyard door.

Then he found things to block it.

Finally, he placed sickles and kitchen knives nearby.

Hui Gu asked in confusion, “Husband, what are you doing?”

Zhou Tie Zhu said, “Now everyone knows we have meat. If we don’t block it, what if they come to our house to snatch the meat?!”

Hui Gu suddenly understood.

That’s right!

But after thinking it over, she smiled and said, “Our Xiao Man is the County Magistrate’s Disciple, and in the future, she will cultivate to become an Immortal.

Even if our gate is wide open, who would dare to come?

If they snatch it today, when Xiao Man becomes an Immortal someday, wouldn’t she strip their entire family bare?”

Zhou Tie Zhu thought about it, no problem!

He moved the table into the courtyard.

He went to the kitchen, cut off a piece of cooked meat, and then sliced it into thin pieces.

Zhou Tie Zhu held the plate.

He placed it heavily on the table.

“Today, our family eats meat!”

At the dinner table.

Zhou Tie Zhu wondered, “Recently, I’ve been feeling hungry again. Do you think our bodies are getting better?”

Hui Gu nodded.

“Me too, recently if I eat less, I get hungry.”

Zhou Tie Zhu:

“Perhaps it’s because Xiao Man was chosen as an Immortal Child, and our family’s fortune has improved!”

…Jiang Ning found a teleportation array.

This teleportation array was the Yunhai Prefecture’s teleportation array.

Taking this teleportation array could directly go to the center of the Southeast Dao Prefecture. Those who wanted to go to other prefectures could take other teleportation arrays after reaching the center.

Long-distance teleportation was more cost-effective than a spirit boat.

A spirit boat trip not only took a long time but its price was only slightly cheaper than a teleportation array.

Jiang Ning was a bit disappointed.

He had originally wanted to see if there were teleportation arrays to other domains, but these were all limited to within the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty.

“Perhaps in the Imperial City, there might be larger teleportation arrays that can support teleportation between domains?”

Jiang Ning had a map.

It depicted a map of the Lower Realm with the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty as its center.

Regrettably, let alone a remote small domain like Cang Ling Domain, even Xuanhuang Domain was not marked on it.

To be on this map, and to have a name, the top combat power of a domain must at least be at the Soul Transformation level… Jiang Ning calculated that even if he flew without eating or drinking, he might not reach the last named domain in the direction of Xuanhuang Domain in a year.

Not to mention, after flying there, he would still have to find another map to explore towards Xuanhuang Domain.

It was not as cost-effective as a teleportation array.

“Let’s do this for now. After settling Zhou Tie Zhu’s family, I will immediately set off for the Great Qian Imperial Capital.”

Jiang Ning began to turn back.

The return journey was very fast; he didn’t need to pay attention to teleportation arrays or anything, heading straight for Zhou Tie Zhu’s home.

One day later.

When Jiang Ning passed by the previous “paradise” again, he found that the paradise seemed to have been invaded.

The “White Immortal” temple was smashed.

This paradise also began to become desolate.

Without the protection of cultivators, in this famine year, the common people were like a lone boat on the sea, with a large influx of outsiders.

Fighting, looting, beating, crying… all mixed together in a cacophony.

Jiang Ning frowned.

“Only another cultivator can cut off a cultivator’s incense, but why, after cutting off the incense of this White Immortal, did that cultivator not collect the ‘fruits’?”

“Making such a mess here is too wasteful, and not cost-effective at all!”

After watching for a while, Jiang Ning sighed.

He waved his hand, removing the sickness from this area, and then continued his return journey.

Along the way, he eliminated many more sicknesses.

But it could only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. If the disaster victims here were not properly resolved, deaths… and the breeding of viruses would all be natural occurrences.

Returning to Zhouguan Village again.

Jiang Ning adjusted his clothes, pretending to have traveled for several days.

He also took out some grain from his Storage Ring.

These were his “props,” falsely claiming they were given by relatives here, which he could leave for Zhou Tie Zhu’s family.

Additionally, he saw that although Xiao Man’s Aptitude was not good, after his tempering, reaching the Body Tempering Realm was still possible.

As an ordinary person, having the strength of the Body Tempering Realm would be enough to protect herself in this village.

Arriving at the Zhou family’s house.

Jiang Ning knocked on the door.

Footsteps came, and the door was opened.

Seeing Jiang Ning, Zhou Tie Zhu enthusiastically welcomed him in.

As they walked, he recounted how Xiao Man had been chosen as an Immortal Child by the County Magistrate.