Starting from the folklore forum, making up town objects

Chapter 503 The return of the soul
The changes in the underworld have stirred the hearts of many outsiders. When the number of underworld officials stationed in Zhouzhuang Ancient Town reached the maximum of 1,080, the competition for the title of "Pioneer of the Underworld" began.

There are a total of 105 titles, excluding the three garrisons: Sanshan Garrison, Zhouzhuang Ancient Town Garrison, and Sanfeng Mountain Garrison.

In other words, there are 105 spots that thousands of underworld officials will have to compete for. It seems like a one in ten chance, but in reality, it is not.

Because after the title of "Pioneer of the Underworld", there is also the title of "Walker of the Underworld".

The title of "Walker of the Underworld" can only be obtained after a "Pioneer of the Underworld" has managed ten outposts.

In other words, if you want to obtain the title of "Walking in the Underworld", out of these 105 spots, at most only 10 people will have a chance, a probability of one percent!
This doesn't even include the fact that some people are monopolizing the territory owned by the "Underworld Pioneer" title, refusing to cooperate with other title holders, preventing them from accumulating ten territory sites.

Therefore, the number of people who actually obtain the title of "Walking in the Underworld" is very likely to be less than ten!

In that case, we can only wait for the next "Underworld Pioneer" title assessment to open.

Therefore, both the Bureau of Investigation and those wealthy families need to acquire as many titles as possible so that they can later allocate titles and obtain the identity of "Walking in the Underworld".

Therefore, both sides are paying close attention to this assessment.

It was under these circumstances that the assessment method was announced.

There are two ways to be assessed as a "Pioneer of the Underworld".

The first type is the Yin Merit Points gained from hunting ghosts and monsters within five days, reaching 200,000 Yin Merit Points. Only solo hunting is counted; assisted hunting and team hunting are not included.

The second method involves creating a safe zone within the Yin-Yang region that can remain untouched by ghosts for three days. This safe zone must be located in an area where ghosts are concentrated and must be one-tenth the size of the entire Yin-Yang region.

No matter which method you use, you can obtain the title of "Pioneer of the Underworld," but it's first-come, first-served, and there are only 105 spots available. Once they're all gone, even if you meet the requirements, you won't be able to get the title.

It is worth mentioning the second method. Underworld officials who obtain titles through this method can designate the underworld region where they are assessed as a new residence. At that time, the underworld will take action to transform it into a residence that can protect ordinary people.

The announcement of the two assessment criteria has caused mixed reactions!
The Bureau of Polling was overjoyed because both the first and second scenarios were favorable to them.

Firstly, if it comes down to individual combat ability, the agents of the Bureau of Investigation are naturally much better than the members of other wealthy private families, unless they encounter those old-established ones who possess underworld-level artifacts.

The second option is that the Bureau of Investigation has a better chance of winning. Judging from the assessment criteria, teamwork is definitely required, because no matter how capable an individual is, they cannot protect a large area and prevent any evil spirits from entering.

In this respect, an organized body like the Bureau of Polls is naturally more powerful than a wealthy family system.

As a result, the Bureau of Investigation realized one thing: the biggest enemy in this assessment was not wealthy family groups, but different branch offices!

The underworld messengers come from various branches of the Great Xia Dynasty. To complete the second task, the cooperation of many underworld messengers is needed, which inevitably requires winning over the underworld messengers from other branches.

But if that happens, which branch office will benefit from this title?
Unless the General Administration intervenes with violent suppression to make all the branch offices obedient, this issue of profit distribution will be difficult to resolve.

However, since the assessment requirements were issued, there has been no response from the General Administration, which has puzzled many branch directors.

Now that things have come to this, these branch offices are all starting to have their own agendas.

Some people started leveraging their personal networks, some offered incentives, and some prepared to go it alone!

Few bureau chiefs have the idea of ​​going it alone; they make up only one-tenth of all the branch bureaus.

It's not that they're arrogant, but rather that they're confident in their abilities.

Not all Yin-Yang areas are as large as the Zhouzhuang Ancient Town headquarters. Many Yin-Yang areas are very small, so small that these branch offices can use their own people to hold one-tenth of the territory of that Yin-Yang area.

The information from the Bureau of Investigation is something that wealthy business families can never access; all they can access are the underworld areas they have explored after becoming underworld messengers.

These dark and shadowy areas are mostly large locations chosen for ghost hunting.

It would be very difficult to hold on, not to mention whether their people have the ability to do so.

Therefore, in the end, those who actually chose the second method were mostly people from the Bureau of Investigation. Only a few teams composed of the original underworld officials who possessed high-level protective artifacts chose the second assessment task.

Just as all the underworld officials were ready, the assessment began.

The scene of thousands of underworld messengers gathering and thousands of their relatives and friends being surrounded was truly spectacular.

After the Yin-Yang sedan chair sent all the examiners away one trip after another, the thousands of relatives and friends of those examiners did not leave.

Some of them took out blankets, set up gas stoves, and brewed tea to chat.

Some gathered in groups of three or five, cracking sunflower seeds and playing cards, chatting about who would win the first title.

These underworld officials and their relatives who were able to come to the underworld all knew the importance of this assessment, so important that it would affect their future treatment.

Therefore, they were quite enthusiastic about this assessment.

Among this group of people, besides ordinary family members, there were also some others.

For example, some branch bureau chiefs!
The branch bureau chiefs took this operation very seriously, seeing it as a potential turning point for their careers.

As the relationship between the General Administration and the Underworld became increasingly ambiguous, the directors of these branch offices began to try to enter the Underworld to learn more about its situation.

However, some branch directors did not enter the underworld. Some of these directors felt that the underworld was not distinguishing between good and evil, and if they went there, they would be attacked in one fell swoop, which would cause chaos in the Bureau of Investigation.

The other part is entirely due to evil spirits within the body.

Without the identity of a Yin official, those Yin cultivators who enter the underworld will only face one outcome.

Nevertheless, a third of the branch bureau chiefs still came to the underworld's residence.

Bai Hongtao of Mubei City was naturally not in this group, but Bao Lingqing, the branch director of Lingyuan City, was.

"Old Bao, how many people from your bureau have successfully become underworld messengers?"

"I asked with a smile," said He Lang, director of the Huaquan City branch.

"There are only three. How many of you are there?"

"Hehe, not many, just five."

Seeing He Lang's smiling face, Bao Lingqing cursed inwardly.

"Oh? He Lang, your branch is full of talented people! You have five!"

Dong Ruibin, the director of the Shouyi Municipal Public Security Bureau, looked surprised.

"Haha, so-so. How about you, Lao Dong?"

"Sigh, only six."

"..."

Seeing that He Lang had stopped laughing, Bao Lingqing smiled.

"Alright, stop showing off. Who do you think has a chance of getting the title?"

Dong Ruibin asked.

"Who else could it be? I know that in the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals Bureau, almost every bureau has more than seven underworld officials involved."

Upon hearing this, He Lang shook his head and continued, "You're mistaken. It has little to do with the number of people who join, but a lot to do with who joins!"

"I heard that those guys from the 36th Bureau have all put their most prized talents into the underworld."

Bao Lingqing raised an eyebrow.

"My precious darling? What do you mean?"

He Lang shook his head.

"What else could it be? Naturally, it's those people with extraordinary talents." "Things like telekinesis, innate superhuman strength, blood and qi madness, and the ability to predict with the six senses, etc., these people join the underworld as underworld officials. With the support of the Heavenly Gang Bureau, they will all participate in the first type of assessment, while the remaining underworld officials of the Heavenly Gang Bureau will participate in the second type of assessment."

"Just you wait and see, I estimate that they will occupy half of the titles in just the Thirty-Six Heavenly Gang Bureaus."

Upon hearing this, both Bao Lingqing and Dong Ruibin fell silent.

"Hehe, of course, not all the spots are on Tiangang's side. For example, Lingyuan City needs to take at least one spot."

He Lang's words caused Dong Ruibin and Bao Lingqing's expressions to change.

Dong Ruibin looked surprised, while Bao Lingqing had a "how did you know?" expression on her face.

"Old Dong, have you forgotten that Lingyuan City has a special talent?"

“Special talents… Oh, you mean the owner of that soul weapon, right? Wasn’t it said that the other person’s soul weapon was unreliable and not very powerful compared to those with extraordinary talents?”

Hearing Dong Ruibin's words, He Lang shook his head.

"That's all ancient history. I know that Lao Bao has high expectations this time."

Seeing that He Lang and Dong Ruibin were both staring at his face, Bao Lingqing still couldn't suppress the smile on his lips.

"Hehe, who knows? Let's wait and see, it'll only take three days... Oh right, there's also a text broadcast, I'll check it out later."

Bao Lingqing chuckled, and the other two didn't dwell on it too much.

As for the text broadcasts, those were done by the families of some underworld officials.

In addition to the sedan chairs used daily, the post station also had sedan chairs available for rent.

Unless the spirit messenger is someone with a lot of good karma, ordinary spirit messengers are rarely rented because the price is high.

But such unforeseen events still occur.

The written reports were compiled by the families of the underworld officials who traveled to various assessment areas in rented palanquins and then returned with written reports.

One unit sold, one act of good karma!
Besides text broadcasts, you can also accumulate more merit by accompanying the family members of the underworld officials to the assessment location and watching the assessment process in real time.

Because of the unique nature of the Yin-Yang sedan chair, it will not affect the assessment results.

No one expected that someone would use this method to do business.

When they wanted to go to the post station to rent a sedan chair and earn good karma together, they found that all the sedan chairs had already been rented out!

This business of accumulating good karma has been monopolized!
Of course, this service can only be used under these circumstances.

If you tried to do this business under normal circumstances, you would lose everything!

Since most of the underworld messengers have gone out, and their families do not possess any good karma, both the written and on-site versions of this transaction require IOUs. Payment will be made when the underworld messengers return.

In this respect, no one wants to renege on their debt.

An hour later, the first version of the transcript was released.

When Bao Lingqing and the others arrived, all 100 copies of the written version had already been sold out. However, the live version would be available for purchase in advance, with seats departing in an hour.

After waiting for a while, Bao Lingqing and his group bought the written report from other people by signing IOUs.

The report contained a lot of information, but it only covered ten regions. These ten regions were basically the areas where the underworld officials who controlled the Yin-Yang sedan chairs were located. The families of these underworld officials who controlled the Yin-Yang sedan chairs did not know which regions the others had gone to.

However, if you purchase a seat, the Yin-Yang sedan chair can travel to other Yin-Yang areas for inspection, but if you don't know the specific location of the area, it is difficult to find the target by randomly inspecting.

Of course, the director of the Bureau of Polling is well aware of the objectives of his subordinates' actions.

After reading through the text content of all ten sections, Bao Lingqing did not find what she was looking for.

"How about we go and take a look in person?"

Bao Lingqing looked at the other two.

After the two finished reading the text version, they were still somewhat unsatisfied.

"Sure, it'll be no more than a hundred merits. They should be able to accumulate a lot of merits during this assessment mission. We can just have them pay the bill when they come out."

He Lang said with a smile.

Immediately, the three of them went to the family of the underworld official who had rented the yin-yang sedan chair and wrote an IOU.

Less than ten minutes after the three of them made their decision, all the seats for the Yin-Yang sedan chair were sold out.

The three looked around and recognized some of the other bureau chiefs.

There were forty people in the sedan chair group. Five of them were not from the Bureau of Pollution. The other thirty-five were either the director of the Bureau of Pollution or family members of its agents.

Without exchanging pleasantries, everyone waited until the appointed time and then climbed into one of the separate sedan chairs to wait for the procession to begin.

Soon, the dozens of sedan chairs vanished into nothingness.

This is the second time Bao Lingqing has ridden in a sedan chair; the first time was when she came to the underworld.

He had to admit he envied the Underworld for having such transportation. If the Bureau of Investigation could also provide each of its directors with such transportation, that would be awesome.

Unfortunately, the Bureau of Polls doesn't have that.

However, Bao Lingqing still harbored a glimmer of hope.

If, if the people in their branch can obtain a title in this assessment and take control of a garrison in the underworld.

So, assigning a sedan chair to one's own bureau chief isn't against the principles of the underworld, is it?
Thinking of this, Wang Xingping's image flashed through Bao Lingqing's mind.

"Hoshihei, it's all up to you now."

……

After exploring the general area of ​​a certain dark and shadowy region, Wang Xingping returned to the outer perimeter.

"The strongest should be the Blood Calamity, but there is more than one, and their size is just right."

"You can try it!"

As he spoke, Wang Xingping extended his right hand.

Suddenly, a white pole appeared in Wang Xingping's hand. Looking up along the pole, at its top hung a banner woven from white paper floss.

Feeling the coolness of the soul banner in his hand, Wang Xingping took a deep breath.

He carried it on his shoulder.

"O soul, return!"

Shouting his self-composed slogan, Wang Xingping walked toward the town in front of him.

At the same time, a special field spread to a radius of 100 meters around Wang Xingping.

Wang Xingping's body also became somewhat ethereal.

When he encountered a rock, he actually kicked it right through!

……

(End of this chapter)