I just passed the imperial examination, what the heck is this "Celestial Official System"?

The Great Zhou Dynasty, Yunzhou, Huanglong Prefecture.

Shannan County.

Just as dawn was breaking, the door of a small house in the corner of a farmhouse in the eastern suburbs creaked open, and Song Li got up early.

This autumn is unusually cold.

Even before winter arrived, a row of icicles hung from the eaves.

"hiss!"

The biting autumn wind from the north blew against Song Li's skin, making him shiver and completely awake.

He washed his face with cold water, then picked up the sickle from the corner of the wall and walked out of the farmhouse.

Standing in a wheat field, holding a wheat stalk in one hand and raising a sickle in the other, bending over to harvest the wheat, his originally fair skin had become somewhat dark from being exposed to the sun for a long time.

Sweat from labor dripped from his forehead to his lips, slightly salty.

One hour later.

I saw my colleagues from the farmhouse arrive at Lingtian with sickles.

"Brother Song, you're pushing yourself too hard. You only get half a spirit stone a month in salary, why are you risking your life?"

Zhao Hui, who was the best friend of Song Li, said this as they entered the farmhouse in the same year.

Song Li smiled slightly: "The sun is strong at noon, so it's better to get up early and harvest the spirit wheat while it's still cool. I heard that the assessment fee this year has increased to twenty catties of spirit wheat, so we have to work harder."

He heard about twenty catties of spirit wheat.

Zhao Hui's face immediately tightened: "Brother Song is right."

If the assessment results in two instances of being rated D.

According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, he should be dismissed from his post. He had finally obtained this official position, and he couldn't just give it back so easily.

Although the job of managing the farmhouse was difficult, at least it was still an official position.

Should he go back to being an ordinary citizen?

That's worse than being killed.

Zhao Hui lost interest in chatting and went into the spirit field to harvest wheat.

All that could be heard was the intermittent swishing sound of sickles rubbing against wheat stalks...

It went on until noon.

Song Li felt his spiritual energy was exhausted and he could no longer use the Sharp Metal Technique, so he put away his scythe and returned to the hut dejectedly.

He sat on the threshold, scooped up a ladle of cold water and gulped it down, instantly dispelling most of the heat in his chest and abdomen.

"commit a sin."

"A thousand soldiers cross a single-plank bridge to become a successful candidate in the imperial examinations, and then they go back to farming?"

Just one month ago.

He traveled to this world.

After more than twenty years of arduous study, he finally passed the Daoist examination of the Great Zhou Dynasty before the age of thirty-five, becoming a Daoist scholar. His confidence swelled to the extreme, and he thought that a bright future awaited him.

As a result, the county government's agricultural office gave him a blow: on the day he took office, he was given a book on farming techniques, a sickle, and an acre of fertile land, and then he had to work all day long.

The contrast was too great, and the original owner couldn't accept it for a while. He was so angry that he died just seven days after passing the imperial examination. That's how Song Li took over the position.

He was a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examinations), not a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the metropolitan examinations).

If this had happened during the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, he might have been able to obtain an eighth-rank official position, or even a seventh-rank county magistrate position in a remote area.

The Great Zhou Dynasty has already gone through three thousand years of vicissitudes. Although it is still at its peak during the Spring and Autumn Period, it is severely bloated.

There has long been an overabundance of officials, with very few positions available.

A scholar of the lowest rank like him could only start as a low-ranking official of the ninth grade, and of course could never become the kind of pampered and privileged official supported by an entire county.

In fact.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, officials of the ninth rank were cogs at the lowest end of the vast imperial machine, doing basic work such as planting, mining, raising livestock, and alchemy in the nine departments of the government office. Only after reaching the seventh rank could they barely have any official status.

They work in the fields for five hours a day.

The time available for cultivation is pitifully short.

Born into a poor family, he lacked the resources for cultivation from his family. Coupled with limited time for cultivation, his cultivation level naturally increased slowly, or even stagnated. With a low cultivation level, there was no possibility of promotion, and without promotion, he could only be exploited, thus keeping his cultivation level low.

It's like a vicious cycle.

"When will this ever end!"

Song Li sighed deeply.

suddenly!

A burst of golden light shone in Song Li's mind, and a crimson gold official seal materialized.

"What is this?"

The moment the thought arose, scenes appeared before my eyes—magnificent, spectacular, and splendid...

The immortal Shennong could turn his hand to create clouds and rain, control the celestial phenomena, and suppress mountains and rivers.

A small seal flew out from the sleeve of a divine craftsman, and upon falling to the mortal realm, it transformed into a hundred thousand mountains, brimming with spiritual energy.

Divine steeds and celestial officials roamed the heavens and earth, their chariots pulled by nine dragons, covering thousands of miles in an instant and spreading out a myriad of rays of light.

A vast, ethereal melody filled my ears, and the hazy scene gradually faded away.

next moment.

Lines of small characters appeared before Song Li's eyes.

[Congratulations, host, on your ascension! You have attained the supreme immortal official rank!]

Name: Song Li

[Level: Not Qualified]

[Exercise Method: Old Farmer's Exercise]

[Spells: Sharp Metal Spell, Sweet Rain Spell]

[Qi Yun: Yan Yi]

[Evaluation: Upon assuming his new official position, he has been granted a life of luxury and honor; he has the potential to become a celestial official. Heaven rewards diligence!]

Song Li paused for a moment, and the golden characters in his eyes changed again.

[As a celestial official of Shennong, the host possesses supreme divine power. He personally engages in labor, setting an example for the world, and does not easily use his divine magic to wreak havoc on humanity.]

[Received rewards; cultivation technique improved.]

[Old Farmer's Kung Fu -> Everlasting Spring Kung Fu!]

"Shennong, the Immortal Official?"

"I?"

Song Li opened his mouth.

Is this system too early? He just passed the imperial examination!

To personally labor, yet bring chaos to the world?

As a low-ranking official in charge of agriculture, if there is no harvest, he will lose his position and has no choice but to do the work himself.

As for causing chaos and disorder among people.

I have the will, but not the ability.

But it's not so easy for celestial officials. They can throw out anything and it can turn into a mountain that can destroy mortal cities in an instant. Even a simple turn of their body is seen as a dragon turning over in the eyes of mortals.

But Song Li doesn't have this problem.

"Even vegetables have their advantages?"

Song Li was pondering.

Unfamiliar information flooded my mind—it was about Changchun Gong.

He possessed a mid-grade spiritual root and had decent talent, but the Old Farmer's Technique was the most basic technique standard for agricultural officials in the Great Yong Dynasty. Not only was it slow in nurturing spiritual power, but it also provided almost no benefit to spells, so he failed to reach the grade even after a month of cultivation.

But Changchun Kung Fu is completely different.

Although it was just a change based on the old farming methods, it was a complete transformation.

One day of cultivation is equivalent to ten days of cultivation by an old farmer, and the difference becomes greater the deeper one goes. Moreover, the enhancement to one's spells is also immense.

Practicing the Everlasting Spring Technique can not only make up for the losses from farming, but can even bring considerable wealth.

In the cultivation world, there is a saying about wealth, companions, methods, and land.

Although it is said to be ranked after wealth and companionship, it is the foundation for those without a background.

If one cannot learn a good skill, how can one compete for rare and precious materials, how can one win the favor of noble people, and how can one change one's fate?

As soon as the message was received in my mind, I saw the Evergreen Skill in my body replace the Old Farmer Skill and start operating on its own.

In the blink of an eye.

The fatigue vanished instantly, and even the lingering ailments from a month of relentless labor gradually disappeared.

Take a deep breath and feel your energy return.

Song Li picked up the sickle that was at his feet and went straight back to the spirit field.

"With the minor exam approaching, twenty catties of spirit wheat is within reach."