"Lady, you also don't want Mr. Ming to lose everything, do you?" Chu Liang said, looking at Lady Ming tied with a red thread.
"You, young master Chu, are willing to plead for a pardon for me?" Lady Ming was surprised at his intention, even though Mr. Ming might not fully understand it. She immediately wanted to kneel down with Mr. Ming, but Chu Liang quickly removed the demonic binding rope from her, lest the scene become too peculiar.
Pleading for a pardon.
It was not a matter of conferring a title upon a demon, but rather requesting official recognition for a benevolent demon, allowing it to live freely within a human dynasty's cities, akin to being granted citizenship.
The unlicensed demon is like an "illegal resident," sneaking into the human city. If discovered by practitioners, it can be killed on the spot at any time. The reason Lady Ming used to be so cautious was because she was afraid of being discovered as a demon.
The power of this license is only held by the human dynasty and the Nine Heavens Immortal Sect. Even the lower-level Ten Realms Immortal Sect does not have this power. It is extremely difficult for a demon to obtain a license.
The current feudal dynasty is called the "Yu Dynasty" and has been in power for more than six hundred years, during a time of peace and prosperity. Every demon living in the human city could be a hidden danger during this peace. "Those who are not of our kind; their hearts will be different" is particularly true for demons, isn't it?
Whether it's the court or the Nine Heavens Immortal Sect, bestowing a license is like giving an endorsement to this demon. If this demon causes trouble in the future, the one who gave the license will be held responsible.
Within the Shu Mountain sect, even junior disciples like Chu Liang do not have this kind of power. This matter must be handled by the sect leader Empress Feng personally, through a series of processes such as divination and examination of the heart, to confirm that Lady Ming is indeed a benevolent demon who has never harmed a human, and that the likelihood of her causing trouble in the future is very low before granting the license. After this, she will have to come to Shu Mountain regularly, accept the sect's tracking technique and legal positioning, and more.
Generally, even disciples of the Nine Heavens Immortal Sect rarely bother with such troublesome matters.
"Only slay demons and evil spirits, how straightforward and effective."
But even with this efficient approach, Chu Liang still can't help feeling uneasy about his conscience.
After thinking it over, he still wants to help them.
As for Lady Ming's family property, he certainly cannot accept it.
There's no need to say much about a thousand thanks; on that very day, Chu Liang took them back to Shu Mountain. Xingzhou City is not far from the Shu Mountain, otherwise the request from Ming's house would not have been delivered to the Shu Mountain Exchange Sword Pavilion.
Upon returning to the mountain gate and telling the sect leader about the matter at Silver Sword Peak, there was nothing left for Chu Liang to do.
Empress Feng, being a righteous and chivalrous person, also greatly appreciated Chu Liang's actions. As for the subsequent request for a license, with her overseeing it, it is unlikely that the main peak of the sect would dare to neglect it.
Chu Liang returned to his small wooden house on the hillside, and only after settling down did he use his divine sense to come to the White Tower. It's time to receive his reward!
In the vast iron prison, only a golden cat spirit's shadow floated in the air.
Chu Liang skillfully pressed the word "refine."
Boom!
A red light flashed and radiance emerged. Chu Liang caught it with his hand and found it to be a talisman. At the same time, an idea entered his mind.
【Leap Cat Talisman】: When this talisman is used, the user will be possessed by a cat spirit, greatly enhancing agility for fifteen minutes. If the user unconsciously licks their palm with their tongue, it is a normal phenomenon, please do not panic.
"A talisman?"
This is the first time Chu Liang has received a talisman. In terms of perception, disposable elixirs and talismans are definitely not as good as permanent magic treasures. But on second thought, since it's disposable, its intensity will definitely be greater. At critical moments, using it may not be ineffective.
Thinking like this, he happily put away the item.
...
"Sigh."
Just after receiving his reward, he heard a loud and clear cry outside, and when he looked up, he saw a huge white crane landing outside the wooden house.
It was snow-white all over, without a trace of stray hair. It stood taller than a grown man, with bright, intelligent eyes that exuded extraordinary spirituality. Hanging from its long crane-like neck was a basket, from which it picked out a small booklet with its sharp beak and placed it on the stone table outside.
It turned out that this month's Seven Star Mansion report had arrived.
Chu Liang nodded towards the window and said, "Thank you."
"Hah—" The white crane raised its neck and made another call, as if in response, then spread its wings and flew high towards its next destination.
This was the Shu Mountain Sect's white crane messenger, dedicated to delivering messages to the disciples of the various peaks. And what it brought today was the monthly Seven Star Mansion report.
Within the Nine Heavens Immortal Sect, there was a sect named the "Celestial Pivot Pavilion".
The main focus of the Celestial Pivot Pavilion was divination and fortune-telling, and it was the closest to celestial mechanics in the world. Even though it was not skilled in combat, it had always been respected by major powers. Being among the top nine sects was the best proof.
Its secondary focus was to gather the extraordinary events of the mortal world and the martial arts community, and to publish a monthly Seven Star Mansion report. For centuries, the Celestial Pivot Pavilion's Seven Star Mansion report had been widely circulated, from the Nine Heavens to the mortal realm, and was always the talk of the town.
Chu Liang pointed and took the booklet into the room to look through it.
The Seven Star Mansion report was divided into three parts: "Extraordinary Tales of the Martial World", "Record of Myriad Treasures in the Mortal World", and "Events of the Nine Provinces".
Among them, "Record of Myriad Treasures in the Mortal World" was a large ranking list that recorded the worldly treasures and their rankings. The monthly changes were not significant, with a separate section describing the changes that occurred each month, making it easy to follow. Most of the changes were among those with lower rankings, while the treasures at the top of the list had hardly changed in hundreds of years.
For instance, the top-ranking treasure had always been the town-suppressing artifact, the Zhèn Yāo Tower.
It was a pity that behind the Zhèn Yāo Tower, there was a line of small characters, "Originally belonged to the Shu Mountain, now lost."
Yes, the Shu Mountain Sect had once been named among the top nine, and even dominated as the leader of the righteous path on earth, all because of the existence of the Zhèn Yāo Tower. However, five hundred years ago, due to a great upheaval, the Shu Mountain lost this supreme divine tool.
This led to a decline among the later sects, and today, several of the top-ranked among the ten sects might surpass the Shu Mountain Sect in terms of pure strength. The voices saying that the Shu Mountain Sect was not worthy of being among the top nine had grown louder and louder in the martial world.
The second ranking was held by the Celestial Pivot Pavilion's Seven Star Sword, an ancient divine sword with immense power to move mountains and seas.
However, the Celestial Pivot Pavilion had always shunned worldly conflicts and the Seven Star Sword had not been used for many years. The last recorded usage was a hundred years ago when the demonic beast sect awakened and plotted to attack the Celestial Pivot Pavilion. When the Seven Star Sword was drawn, it subdued the demonic beast and then destroyed the entire sect with its mighty power.
It was rumored that every time the Celestial Pivot Pavilion used the Seven Star Sword, it came with a great price, but this was not something that would be made known to outsiders.
The third ranking was held by the Mirror Sky Eight Trigrams from the Wuyin Immortal Mountain, connecting the divine and the Dao with infinite applications.
The Wuyin Immortal Mountain was also one of the Nine Heavens, and the Mirror Sky Eight Trigrams was said to be a divine tool that had fallen from the immortal realm. According to the martial world, the reason the Mirror Sky Eight Trigrams was ranked below the Seven Star Sword was simply because the Record of Myriad Treasures was compiled by the Celestial Pivot Pavilion. In terms of true power, it was superior.
These distant divine artifacts were rarely encountered in life and would not involve any contact with them. The most common artifact that Chu Liang encountered was at the fifty-seventh rank.
The Phoenix Spirit Blood Jade.
It was formed from the refined blood of an ancient divine phoenix, conducive to nurturing the body and imparting great power when using divine abilities.
This treasure was worn by the sect leader, Empress Phoenix.