83: Chapter 83 Is this Heaven?

Thinking of this, his face turned alternating shades of green and white.

The host clearly noticed his expression and greeted him enthusiastically: "Eat, don't just stare! All who come are guests, eat whatever you like. We don't want your money! As long as you want to eat, we have plenty!"

Old Dao's mouth twitched.

No money?

And plenty of it?

Plenty of Gold Rank Demonic Beast meat?

He still didn't believe it.

How could an ordinary household have the confidence to say the word "plenty"? Unless—

"Is that true?" he couldn't help but ask again, "Is there really plenty of this meat?"

The host had an expression that took it for granted: "Of course there's plenty. In our Flower City, as long as you become a Professional, everyone can receive a subsidy of ten jin of meat every day."

Ten jin.

Every day.

Every Professional.

Old Dao's brain went "buzz."

"You tell me, how could anyone finish eating all that?" The host chuckled while wiping the grease off his child's mouth, "There are five of us in the family, and I alone receive ten jin; there's no way we can finish it. It would be a waste to just leave it sitting there. Now that you've come, isn't it just perfect?"

Old Dao was silent for a few seconds.

Then he did something he himself felt was not very dignified—he pointed at himself and the subordinates behind him who were equally dumbfounded:

"Then we are also Professionals, can we also receive it?"

"Of course you can!" The host patted his shoulder, "You are also Professionals, just go to the Granary to collect it. Just show your identity tag, and they'll give it to you!"

"I didn't go to collect it today because the meat at home wasn't finished, and I didn't want to waste it."

...

After finishing the meal, there was still some time before work started in the afternoon.

Old Dao gathered the five hundred people in a quiet corner.

Everyone stood in a circle, looking at one another, but no one spoke first.

It was Old Dao who finally broke the silence: "What do you all think?"

"Is this matter of collecting meat real or fake?"

After a moment of silence, a subordinate tentatively said: "Whether it's real or fake... why don't we go and see for ourselves?"

Everyone's gaze turned in unison toward Old Dao.

Old Dao thought for a moment and nodded.

"Let's go! To the Granary!"

...

There were guards on duty at the entrance of the Granary.

Seeing them arrive, the guards were neither surprised nor polite, simply extending their hands in a businesslike manner:

"Identity tags."

Old Dao pulled the wooden tablet engraved with the characters "Flower City" from his bosom and handed it over.

The guard took a look, checked a name off the register, and then shouted inside.

In less than a minute.

A large piece of meat was carried out and placed in front of Old Dao.

It was heavy.

Exactly ten jin.

Spiritual Qi was seeping out from the meat, so dense that Old Dao, standing beside it, felt all the pores on his body opening up.

The four hundred and ninety-nine people behind him stepped forward one by one to collect theirs. What everyone received was the same—ten jin of Gold Rank Red Flame Golden-Maned Pig meat.

Throughout the entire process, no one asked an extra word.

No one checked if they were new arrivals or old residents.

No one asked if they had worked enough hours.

Show identity tag, register, collect meat, leave.

It was that simple.

Half an hour later.

The five hundred people stood on the open ground outside the Granary, each holding ten jin of heavy Gold Rank Demonic Beast meat, their eyes filled with confusion.

No one spoke.

The wind blew over, carrying the Spiritual Qi radiating from the meat into everyone's nostrils.

Old Dao held the piece of meat, staring straight at it for a long time.

"Am I already dead?"

he muttered to himself.

"Is this Heaven?"

...

After that lunch of Spiritual Rice and Demonic Beast meat had settled in their stomachs, by the afternoon, changes in their bodies began.

Spiritual Qi was running wild in their Meridians.

Old Dao was the first to feel it—his chest was burning, his limbs were swelling, and a force was pushing outward all over his body, stuck there, unable to move up or down, making him feel uncomfortably stifled.

His subordinates beside him were in the same situation.

Some clenched their fists, veins bulging. Some stood in place trembling, with beads of sweat forming on their foreheads.

Some couldn't help but jump in place a couple of times, but they still felt uncomfortable.

There was too much Spiritual Qi.

Their bodies couldn't handle it, and they couldn't expel it, so it could only rampage inside their bodies.

Just then, the signal for starting afternoon work sounded.

The five hundred people returned to their respective workstations, picked up their tools, and began moving stones and building walls.

One hammer strike down—

Mm~! It felt good!

That Spiritual Qi stuck in his chest poured out along with the arm-swinging motion. Once the Meridians were cleared, the feeling of heat throughout his body instantly subsided by more than half.

Power surged up from his Dantian, flowing through his shoulders, arms, and fingertips. With every hammer strike and every load carried, it was bit by bit absorbed, digested, and integrated into his body.

Old Dao swung the hammer again.

Another strike!

And another!

With every strike, the blocked Spiritual Qi was cleared a little more.

He could clearly feel his Meridians widening, his Dou Qi solidifying, and his strength growing—not a slow growth, but one visible to the naked eye, the kind where one afternoon was worth half a month of normal Cultivate.

It wasn't just him.

All five hundred people were working for their lives.

No one was slacking off, no one was dragging their feet, and no one felt that moving stones was an insult anymore.

Everyone wished they could squeeze out all their strength, because the more they worked and the harder they moved, the faster the Spiritual Qi was digested, and the more obvious the improvement in their strength became.

By the time work ended, the five hundred people were slumped on the construction site, soaked in sweat, panting heavily.

But everyone's eyes were frighteningly bright.

Old Dao looked down at his own hands.

Dou Qi circulated in his palms, thicker by a layer than in the morning.

He tried circulating his Qi for one cycle, and that feeling of fullness and abundance made his scalp tingle.

He finally understood.

Why the Professionals of Flower City worked so hard.

On one hand, it was indeed their mindset—people who had experienced famine and the execution line truly felt happy to have work to do and food to eat.

That wasn't an act.

On the other hand—

you've eaten the Spiritual Rice, you've eaten the Gold Rank Demonic Beast meat, and your body is so full of Spiritual Qi you're about to burst; if you don't work, where is that force supposed to go?

Relying solely on meditation to Cultivate simply cannot digest such a massive amount of Spiritual Qi. Only high-intensity physical labor can accelerate the Fusion of Spiritual Qi during movement.

Work is Cultivate.

Cultivate is work.

The more you work, the faster your strength grows.

From top to bottom, this city was crazy—it was happily crazy.

...

After work ended, there was another surprise.

The foreman came over with a register and distributed wages per person.

Old Dao took it and looked.

Three liang of Spiritual Rice.

Silver Rank.

This was the daily wage.

???

When he received it, he couldn't believe it.

One day of work, three liang of Spiritual Rice?

Is this for real?

That's equivalent to three thousand copper coins a day!

Just the monthly wage alone is ninety thousand copper coins!

For a Silver Rank Professional like him, this wage could be considered standard.

But...

he wasn't just paying himself like this!

He was paying everyone!

Every single worker!

Regardless of profession, regardless of strength, regardless of age!

Every single worker was paid like this!!!

He felt a bit dizzy.

What kind of life were these people in Flower City living??

Between Flower City and Qing City, who exactly was the S-Level City and who was the F-Level City?

Was it reversed???

Was it that he had been living in Hell all along?

Now that the heavens had opened their eyes, had they finally let him ascend to Heaven??