339: Chapter 339 Honorary Titles

It didn't take much time for Chen Hu to arrive at Xuanwu City, the old capital of the Great Song Dynasty.

He swept his Divine Sense across the entire city.

He couldn't help but sigh at what a magnificent city it was.

Chen Hu did not enter Xuanwu City immediately.

Instead, he stayed outside the city and used his Divine Sense to secretly observe the situation within this massive metropolis.

Through his observations, he discovered that what was displayed within this city was actually in no way inferior to modern civilization.

For instance, there were mechanical Puppet vehicles resembling buses, and smaller mechanical vehicles similar to cars.

Furthermore, the currency used by ordinary people in the city was actually a combination of physical and digital currency.

If one needed to travel long distances, they could take flying boats or use teleportation arrays.

Relatively speaking, flying boats were much cheaper, while teleportation arrays required payment in Spirit Stones.

By the way, the physical currency of the Great Song Dynasty was divided into four types: copper coins, silver coins, gold coins, and Spirit Coins.

Among them, copper coins were further divided into copper cents and copper yuan.

One copper cent was equivalent to 0.1 yuan, one copper yuan was equivalent to 1 yuan, one silver coin was equivalent to 10 yuan, one gold coin was equivalent to 100 yuan, and one Spirit Coin was equivalent to 1,000 yuan.

At the same time, the entire Xuanwu City was divided into nine inner districts and thirty-six outer districts.

The old imperial palace of the Great Song Dynasty occupied one of the nine inner districts, while the remaining eight were inhabited by Cultivators and their families.

As for the thirty-six outer districts, six of them were primarily inhabited by powerful Martial Artists.

The remaining thirty districts were for commoners.

Chen Hu sensed that within Xuanwu City, there were seven Soul Transformation powerhouses alone.

Five of them lived in the nine inner districts, and the remaining two lived in the thirty-six outer districts.

However, those two in the thirty-six outer districts were both proficient in concealment techniques, disguising themselves as ordinary people.

If it were an ordinary Soul Transformation expert, they would likely be unable to see through their true identities.

However, Chen Hu's Primordial Spirit was extraordinary, and his overall strength far surpassed that of an ordinary Soul Transformation expert, so he could easily see through their true identities.

It was worth mentioning that a city-protecting array existed within Xuanwu City, though it was currently in an inactive state.

After observing for a while longer.

Chen Hu entered Xuanwu City.

Relatively speaking, the living environment in the nine inner districts was better.

This was because each of the nine inner districts had an independent Spirit Gathering Array.

The higher the concentration of Spiritual Qi, the more suitable it was for cultivation.

Now that the threat of the Heavenly Demon Sect was gone, Chen Hu felt no sense of urgency.

Therefore, he intended to enjoy himself properly in the Great Cultivation World.

As for underling points.

He currently had nearly six billion underling points flowing in every day.

He was in no rush to recruit new underlings.

Soon, Chen Hu arrived at the inner eight districts.

Because the Spiritual Qi concentration in the inner eight districts was second only to the imperial palace occupying the ninth inner district.

Before long.

Chen Hu entered a real estate agency founded by the government.

As he stepped through the gates of this agency, a sound emanated from a Magical Artifact next to the entrance.

Immediately, the staff inside the agency looked alert.

Then, a woman wearing a red uniform walked up quickly and said respectfully, "Senior, welcome to our inner eight districts agency. I am Xiaoya from the inner eight districts agency, and I am very happy to serve you, Senior!"

"Hello, I would like to rent a property!" Chen Hu said with a smile.

Xiaoya asked, seeking his opinion, "Senior, how about we go to the VIP lounge to talk?"

"Sure!"

"Senior, please, this way!"

As Xiaoya led Chen Hu to the VIP lounge.

The other staff members couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

"What do you think, what is this Senior's cultivation level? Golden Core or Nascent Soul?"

The Magical Artifact that made the sound when Chen Hu entered earlier was called a Spiritual Pressure Detector, which could emit different sounds based on the Spiritual Pressure generated within a Cultivator's body.

However, it could only detect Spiritual Pressure up to the Golden Core Realm.

Once it detected Spiritual Pressure of the Golden Core Realm, the Cultivator entering was at least a being above the Golden Core Realm.

That was why the agency manager, Xiaoya, had come out personally to receive Chen Hu.

One had to know that Xiaoya's cultivation level was not low either, having reached the fifth level of Foundation Establishment.

Another staff member said, "I don't see any look of world-weariness in that Senior's eyes. I think he shouldn't be very old; he must be at the Golden Core Realm!"

"Even if he is only at the Golden Core Realm, he is qualified to become an Honorary Count and receive a subsidy of 100,000 Spirit Coins every year!"

Another staff member said enviously, "One hundred thousand Spirit Coins! I'm so jealous; we would have to work for over three hundred years to earn that!"

"Jealous? You can work hard on your cultivation. As long as you reach the Foundation Establishment Realm, you can also obtain the title of Viscount!" another staff member teased.

In the Great Song Dynasty, as long as one achieved the Foundation Establishment Realm, they could obtain an honorary title and then receive a subsidy.

Honorary titles were divided into Honorary Viscount, Honorary Count, Honorary Marquis, and Honorary Duke.

As long as you were willing to accept the honorary title and assume certain responsibilities, you could receive a subsidy from the Imperial Dynasty every year.

Besides honorary titles, there were also granted titles with fiefs and honorary titles without fiefs.

Granted titles with fiefs had land, while titles without fiefs only enjoyed the salary brought by the title and had no land.

Back to the main topic.

In the agency's VIP lounge.

After Xiaoya personally brewed a cup of Spirit Tea for Chen Hu, she asked about his rental requirements.

After Chen Hu stated his rental requirements.

Xiaoya began to make recommendations to Chen Hu.

After listening carefully, Chen Hu decided to rent an estate covering one hundred mu.

Just as Chen Hu was about to sign the contract, Xiaoya hesitated and said, "Senior, may I ask if you are willing to become an Honorary Noble of our Great Song Dynasty?"

"Introduce it to me!"

Chen Hu said.

Thus, Xiaoya hurriedly explained the situation regarding the honorary titles of the Great Song Dynasty.

After obtaining an honorary title, not only could one receive a certain subsidy annually, but there were also discounts on renting property and discounts when purchasing items from official shops.

Furthermore, family members and offspring could also enroll in the Great Song Cultivation Academy for free to study.

Of course, after enjoying so many benefits, one also needed to assume some responsibilities.

For example, dealing with some Yao Beasts and demons; of course, it wasn't thankless work, and there would be rewards.

Naturally, considering that Cultivators needed to go into secluded meditation.

One only needed to accept a mission once every ten years.

Another thing was that if they encountered an attack on the city by Yao Beasts or demons, they would need to accept the conscription and go to the city walls to block them.

However, according to Xiaoya, Xuanwu City had been established for a long time, and Cultivators cleared out Yao Beasts and demons around the city every year, so there hadn't been any Yao Beast or demon sieges for over 300 years.

Moreover, that Yao Beast siege over 300 years ago was man-made, and the scale was not large.

Besides that time over 300 years ago, there had been a large-scale tide of Yao Beasts and demons 1,000 years ago.

After the introduction, Xiaoya looked at Chen Hu and said with expectation, "Senior, how about it? Would you like to accept the Imperial Dynasty's title? The estate you have your eye on has an annual rent of 30,000 Spirit Coins."

"If you are an Honorary Duke, you can live there for free; if you are an Honorary Marquis, you only need to pay 3,000 Spirit Coins per year, and a Count only needs 10,000!"

Chen Hu thought for a moment and said, "How does one obtain an honorary title?"

Upon hearing this, Xiaoya was overjoyed: "Obtaining an honorary title is very easy. As long as Senior makes a decision, just ask someone from the City Lord's Mansion to come and verify Senior's cultivation level!"