59: Chapter 59 This treatment is not enough

Glancing at Lin Xiao out of the corner of his eye, Pavilion Master Yan Yao quickly replied to Meng Ning's message.

"Although the treatment on my side is pretty good, it involves going to a remote county-level star. You know what the environment is like there.

I'm only sending this message because the boss is giving me a referral fee; just join the fun. Don't actually sign a contract in a moment of passion. After all, given your family's situation, it's really not necessary."

At this moment, inside a certain shop on the outskirts of the Qingxu Market, Meng Ning looked at the last sentence of the message on his watch with a complex expression.

Just then, a group of people entered the shop. The Second-order Deity leading them immediately walked over with respectful, small steps upon seeing him.

"Chen Shanchang, the current head of the Chen family from Anping County, greets the Great God. May your Divine Kingdom flourish and your Divine Path prosper! This is our family's offering from last year; please check it, Great God."

As Chen Shanchang, the head of the Chen family, spoke, he respectfully handed over a Storage Pouch. Chen Liang and the other talented juniors of the family had all lost the arrogance they held in Anping County.

At this moment, they each lowered their heads and bowed respectfully to Meng Ning, behaving as obediently as a flock of harmless quails.

Taking the Storage Pouch, Meng Ning scanned it with his divine sense. After confirming everything was correct, he nodded, and a booklet appeared in his hand. It was currently displaying the Chen family's information.

After finishing the comparison, Meng Ning stood up and went to the counter. After rummaging around for a bit, he returned a Storage Pouch to the other party.

"The information has been recorded; here is the reward. If you're free, you can browse the shop. If you see something you like, just bring it to me to settle the bill."

Leaving it at that, Meng Ning ignored the Chen family group. Instead, he returned to the back of the counter, and a pair of virtual light-blue goggles appeared before his eyes.

Meanwhile, in the virtual space, Lin Xiao was interviewing a graduate from the Puppetry Department.

He looked the puppet in front of him up and down. To be honest, he didn't quite understand the difference between this thing and a mechanical creation.

Hearing his question, a clearly disdainful expression appeared on the graduate's face.

"The first lesson our teacher taught us was that puppets are just a means of combat, a tool. You can use them, but don't turn yourself into a puppet because of them.

Those lunatics in the Mechanical Department start modifying their Believers at the Divine Being stage. Eventually, they turn living people into cold mechanical creations.

They even call it 'Mechanical Ascension.' The biggest difference between our Puppetry Department and the Mechanical Department is in our cognition."

Hearing this answer, Lin Xiao nodded, partially understanding. Then, a slightly excited expression appeared on his face.

"I've been wanting to ask, besides this kind of puppet, do you have any large ones that people can go inside to control..."

Lin Xiao gestured as he spoke, trying his best to describe the concept of a mecha. Jiang Ling understood what he was talking about after listening for just a moment.

"You must be talking about [Spirit-Controlling Puppets]. Although these puppets and mechanical creations do greatly enhance a Believer's strength,

The cost is too high. Even the lowest quality [Spirit-Controlling Puppets] are at the high-grade Magical Artifact level. With those divine power points, most people usually prefer to buy weapons or Spirit Armor."

"Oh... so that's how it is. Tsk, then if the materials and divine power points are sufficient, can you build one of these Spirit-Controlling Puppets?"

"If there are enough materials and a specialized forging workshop, with my Believers' abilities, it's not impossible to create even a top-grade Magical Artifact level one.

In terms of refining difficulty, it's actually not that great. The main issues are the materials and the workshop."

Nodding, Lin Xiao understood what the other party meant. He patted the puppet in front of him and turned to ask the other person.

"I basically have no more questions. As for the treatment, it's 6,000 divine power points per month, including room and board, with Grade B or higher ingredients for every meal, and an environment rich in spiritual energy.

What do you think of this treatment? However, there are some things I should say upfront..."

Lin Xiao then explained his situation again.

Pavilion Master Yan Yao listened from the side, his brow twitching. Great, the conditions he had carefully negotiated were now being used directly by the employer.

At this moment, he really wanted to whisper to Lin Xiao: "Actually, you can lower the treatment appropriately; you don't need to give everyone such good conditions."

He felt for his classmates' hardships, but seeing how he had finally found a job he liked with good pay, only for his classmate to get the same deal as soon as they arrived, made his feelings a bit complicated.

Jiang Ling listened seriously and nodded.

"With this treatment, it's normal for the environment to be a bit tough. Shall we sign the contract now?"

Just as they were signing the contract, Meng Ning's figure appeared in the private room. He walked over to his brother in a few steps and whispered.

"Is this your employer? He looks quite young. What's his background? Which family's direct descendant is he? What treatment is he giving you?"

Hearing his brother's rapid-fire questions, Pavilion Master Yan Yao glanced cautiously at Lin Xiao and pulled the other man, signaling him not to speak recklessly.

"Didn't I tell you we're going to a remote county-level star? The employer probably isn't a direct descendant of any major clan. Ask him about the specifics yourself.

It's up to you whether you want to go or not; don't worry about me."

A sidelined branch member of a major clan? This thought appeared in Meng Ning's mind, and a trace of shared sympathy appeared in his eyes as he looked at Lin Xiao.

He immediately thought of himself, the high spirits he felt when he was tested with an S-Rank Talent, and the arrogance he had when he was specially recruited by the Star Academy.

Until he discovered that S-Rank Talents were everywhere in the academy, and for the sake of resources and spots, a group of geniuses were caught in a cutthroat struggle for survival. Ultimately, he was completely squeezed out...

Over there, Lin Xiao finished signing the contract with Jiang Ling and turned his gaze toward Meng Ning.

"Is this student also here for an interview?"

"Yao-zi said there was a job here, and I happened to be at the Qingxu Market, so I came to take a look. You're recruiting a quite diverse group; could it be you want to recruit a full set of support types?"

Meng Ning also felt it was quite novel; generally, this model of recruiting all kinds of support only appeared in major sects.

Even the Mid-rank God elders in his family only recruited support deities of specific laws.

"Is there a problem with that? Isn't it a good thing to have a full set of support deities? If everything can be refined by ourselves, wouldn't that save a lot of trouble?"

Save trouble? With the divine power points and materials used for this recruitment, wouldn't it be easier to just buy things directly from the trading boards?

Forget it, I'll just consider it as helping Yao-zi boost his performance.

"I'm a First-order Deity Array Master. I can set up arrays, refine Formation Flags, and even engrave arrays onto Magical Artifacts to enhance their power. What treatment do you plan to give me?"

Hearing Lin Xiao repeat the treatment he had given before, Meng Ning nodded.

"The treatment is decent, but if you want to recruit me, this treatment isn't enough to cover my consumption..."

Hearing this, Pavilion Master Yan Yao was stunned, and then, thinking of something, he suddenly cried out in surprise.

"Ning-zi, you're not about to promote to Second-order, are you?"

Jiang Ling was also slightly stunned upon hearing this, and then looked at Meng Ning with a face full of envy. As expected of a descendant of a major clan, promotion was easy.

Meng Ning smiled and shook his head.

"How could it be that easy? Although some of my Believers have indeed promoted to the Late Golden Core stage, and some have even touched the edge of the Nascent Soul stage..."

"But as you know with law comprehension, without a large number of Law fragment or complete Divine Law Artifacts, if you want to progress, you can only rely on slow, painstaking work.

However, even though I haven't reached the second order, the consumption within my Divine Kingdom is indeed much higher than yours. If this is the treatment, I might as well stay in my previous shop."