430: Chapter 430 The Chronicles of Time

"Reporting to the Magistrate, there is a team of Shadow Guards waiting outside the yamen, wishing to enter. Magistrate, you... where did you go?"

The yamen runner had been bowing his head while reporting, but when he looked up, he only saw the trembling advisor and a calm-looking Zhou Yan.

There was no sign of the Magistrate anywhere.

"Alright, come out. They are here for me."

Hearing Zhou Yan speak, the previously trembling advisor breathed a sigh of relief, and beside him, the Magistrate appeared out of thin air.

He looked as if he had been sitting there the whole time; if not for the tablecloth nearby being lifted and not yet having settled back into place, no one would have guessed that he had just been so terrified he crawled under the table.

The Magistrate could feel the disdain in the advisor's eyes, but there was nothing he could do. The Shadow Guards were the undisputed hunting dogs of the imperial court, and since he wasn't exactly clean himself, how could he not be afraid?

However, the thick skin he had cultivated from years of being an official allowed him to continue speaking without a blush or a racing heart.

"Ahem, understood."

After saying this, he changed his expression.

"My Lord, why have these Shadow Guards come looking for you? Are they here to escort you?"

Zhou Yan just chatted with the Magistrate casually while organizing the gains from this update.

"Perhaps."

"Perhaps?" The Magistrate didn't quite understand the other party's meaning. Could it be that they are actually here to deal with me? And picking up this lord is just on the way?

Before he could overthink it, Zhou Yan continued.

"Because I actually hold no official position; everything was just your own wild imagination."

As soon as these words were spoken, the Magistrate and the advisor widened their eyes in anger and exchanged a glance.

They clearly understood what the other meant.

The person in front of them had likely used some method to impersonate an imperial official, and they were probably a repeat offender; the Shadow Guards outside must be here to arrest him.

In their eyes, Zhou Yan's current demeanor looked like someone who had given up on themselves.

Thinking about how they had been running around busily and acting terrified like grandsons during this time, the two were furious. Since the Shadow Guards were already here, they had nothing to fear and planned to teach the person in front of them a lesson.

Just as they rolled up their sleeves and stood up, Zhou Yan added another sentence.

"However, my national destiny is real. You... what are you standing up for?"

Zhou Yan naturally knew what these two were thinking, but he just wanted to tease them, so he put on an innocent look.

Upon hearing that the national destiny was real, the two immediately felt awkward again.

To possess such national destiny, if he wasn't a high-ranking official, then he might be a member of the royal family, which would be even worse!

"Ahem, the advisor is getting on in years. My chair cushion is softer, so why don't you come sit here, advisor?"

The Magistrate put on a look of respecting the elderly, helped the advisor over, and sat him in his own seat, while he himself sat in the advisor's chair.

Seeing that the two had just sat down, Zhou Yan added another remark.

"However, my national destiny is not that of Great Liang."

"I ni..." The two stood up directly, gesturing as if they were about to point at Zhou Yan and curse.

So it turns out he's just a stinking outsider, coming here to put on a show; he might even be a spy from some small country. Since the Shadow Guards are here, why should we be afraid of you?

"But they came to find me, likely because I am in the Void Refining stage."

"Your chair is indeed quite soft, but I am old, and sitting on something harder is better for my back." The advisor helped the Magistrate back to his original seat and sat back in his own chair.

However, the two were sweating profusely. It was obvious that the other party being in the Void Refining stage of this Realm was even more terrifying than having national destiny.

Who the hell is this Old Ancestor?

You can't just scare people like this!

Zhou Yan actually wanted to tease them some more, but a sturdy man wearing a breastplate and carrying a saber at his waist stepped in, bowing the moment he saw Zhou Yan.

"Shadow Guard Centurion Ke Bi, on behalf of Your Majesty, has come specifically to invite you, Sir, to the capital for a chat. This request carries no intention of coercion, only the desire for cooperation."

"Even if you, Sir, do not come, this gift is a token of Great Liang's sincerity."

He still did not look up, maintaining his bowing posture, then waved his hand. Three Shadow Guards walked up, each holding a large box, and as they opened the boxes...

From the first box, a wave of medicinal fragrance hit them; it was clearly an Advanced Spirit Plant with significant age and rare quality. In the middle was a colorful Spirit Ore, which, being placed alongside such a Spirit Plant, was surely no ordinary object.

The last box was more direct, containing a large amount of roughly processed Spirit Stone.

Even though each one had many Impurities and the craftsmanship was poor, they were all large. Overall, each one was significantly better than a Low-Grade Spirit Stone, but not quite at the level of a Medium-Grade Spirit Stone.

Calculating this box, it should be worth about ten or twenty thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Is Great Liang so broke that they can't even put food on the table?

I recall that the powers I revealed didn't look weak by any means.

Moreover, cultivators in this era don't seem to be a very common profession, yet they offer so little to invite me?

Could it be that they mistook me for a Soul Transformation or Nascent Soul cultivator?

Zhou Yan had just seen the name of this world through the mini-map; it was written as the Human Realm.

Combined with his past conversation with the Yu Kou, this place would later be renamed the Xuantian Spirit Realm, but it should be before the birth of the Xuantian Spirit Realm.

So, Zhou Yan returned to his old trade, first shaping a sufficiently high fake identity for himself.

Through the partial content of the "Azure Chapter" instilled by the System rewards, as well as the brand-new Law System, Zhou Yan was confident that even if Void Refining exceeded his imagination, he could still exchange a few blows.

As long as he hid his female body in advance, it didn't matter if he died or not.

It was just that he really hadn't expected the conditions in ancient times to be this poor; he felt like he didn't even need to pretend.

"Ahem, the gifts... there is no need for them to be so heavy."

"Since Your Majesty of Great Liang has personally extended an invitation, there is no reason for me, as a guest, not to go."

Zhou Yan casually collected the Spirit Plant and the Ore, but did not take the pile of Spirit Stone.

One must admit that ancient times had one good point: the materials were truly solid. If these things were placed in the Lianxing Pavilion, they would surely sell for over a hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Although the value wasn't very high, it was at least much better than that pile of crude Spirit Stone.

The Shadow Guard Centurion could tell at a glance that this person had no interest in these Spirit Stone, but he didn't relax. Instead, he instantly confirmed the idea that the other party was a reclusive expert, and became even more nervous.

The life of a Loose Cultivator is quite bitter, and they haven't seen much of the world. Often, even if a Loose Cultivator expert reaches the Soul Transformation stage, some of their small habits are hard to hide.

As Shadow Guards, they naturally possessed secret techniques to confirm through various means whether the other party was revealing their true feelings.

This person only accepted the more ordinary Spirit Plant and special Ore, while the Spirit Stone worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver were not even considered, and he didn't even value those other things too highly.

It stands to reason that if not for the sake of the imperial court's face, the other party wouldn't even have accepted those meager Spirit Plant and Ore.

Looking at it this way, the other party's foundation was definitely not low; either they were not a Loose Cultivator, or their cultivation was extremely high!

Because of Zhou Yan's recent display, all the Shadow Guards became much more respectful. They quickly invited Zhou Yan into the sedan. This sedan was not ordinary; the ones pulling it were even Core Formation Stage Yao Beasts.

It was a pity that it was the Core Formation of the Old Method; even if the Yao Beast's Physical Body was stronger than an ordinary Yao Race, it could not compare to the new method Core Formation.

The Magistrate saw that this master had finally left and couldn't help but wipe away a cold sweat, finally breathing a sigh of relief.

But just as he finished sighing, he noticed the advisor was still sweating profusely, and couldn't help but look behind, curious.

There happened to be two Shadow Guards left; one was holding an account book, seemingly calculating something, while the other slowly drew their saber.

Sensing an aura dissipating in the distance, Zhou Yan couldn't help but feel the ruthlessness of the Great Liang imperial court.

Through observation, this person was quite lazy and loved to take small bribes.

Through the Six Desires Heaven, Zhou Yan discovered that the money he took from the evil cultivator was mostly used to build up the county, with a small portion going into the yamen, and he only pocketed about a dozen taels himself.

Although he had indulged that evil cultivator quite a bit, making it hard to judge whether he was good or bad, the fact that they didn't even hold a trial and just cut him down directly showed what kind of administrative System this imperial court had.

However, the Magistrate did have problems, and this was their own business, so Zhou Yan couldn't be bothered to care.

What he cared about most now was actually the thing he found in his backpack.

【 Suihua Heaven Record 】

【Quality: Mythical】

【Description: Mysteriously dispersed, an object not of this world. The dark mechanism gathers again, breaking and re-covenanting. It does not reside within the dust, nor does it dwell at the boundary of the dust. Standing abruptly alone, the mysterious root stands on its own.】

"Xiaodao, Xiaodao, help me translate this into Chinese."

"Hello, Intelligent Xiaodao is still learning. To better solve your problem, please describe the issue you encountered in more detail, and Xiaodao will do its best to answer you."

"Didn't you just upgrade!"

"Hello, Intelligent Xiaodao is still learning. To better solve your problem, please describe the issue you encountered in more detail, and Xiaodao will do its best to answer you."