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

"Brother Song, I have recently observed that your skill in using the Sharp Metal Technique is quite proficient, it seems that your cultivation has improved."

Zhao Hui looked at Song Li, who was swinging his sickle continuously in the distance.

Spirit wheat is far superior to ordinary wheat.

Not only do the wheat grains contain spiritual energy, but the wheat stalks are also extremely tough. Ordinary farmers not only find it difficult to cut them, but are also easily cut by the wheat leaves. Only by cultivating the art of sharp metal and enhancing their weapons can they cut them.

He and Song Li passed the imperial examination in the same year.

Both of them had only been practicing the Old Farmer's Technique and the Sharp Metal Technique for a month.

Seeing that Song Lineng could perform the Sharp Metal Technique three times in a row within a quarter of an hour, he realized that he could not do it and that Song Lineng had clearly surpassed him.

"Yesterday, I had a stroke of luck and gained some insight, allowing for a small breakthrough in the art of metalworking."

Song Li stopped what he was doing, wiped the sweat off his body with his rough cotton-linen undershirt, and straightened up to answer.

"Brother Song's performance in this minor exam is secure."

As the assessment approaches, his magical abilities have improved.

What luck...

Zhao Hui's eyes were full of envy.

A brief interlude.

Song Li continued to wield his sickle, head down.

As usual, the ground temperature rose rapidly around noon, and I returned to my little cabin in the farmhouse before the sun reached its scorching peak.

A towering pile of grain had formed in one corner of the yard.

"Thirteen jin."

There is still a month until the small test, which is enough time to save up the twenty catties of spirit wheat required for the assessment.

In the past...

It must be extremely difficult.

However, since he started practicing the Everlasting Spring Technique, his spiritual power has increased dramatically. He was not only able to complete the assessment, but he even had some left over.

There are regulations in the county government office.

Agricultural officials contract land, and as long as they can pass the assessment, the extra spiritual wheat can be used as their cultivation resources.

In addition to their salary, they can earn extra money.

This was one of the few perks available to agricultural officials.

If Song Li puts in his best effort, harvesting thirty catties of spirit wheat is not impossible.

But the tallest tree in the forest will be felled by the wind.

He had only been working in the farmhouse for a month. Although his aptitude of a mid-grade spiritual root was quite good among the farm officials, his progress was too eye-catching and easily aroused the jealousy of his colleagues.

In his previous life, Song Li had worked his way up within the system.

So you know, you can't be last, and you can't be first; being in the middle or upper range is just right.

Close the door.

Song Li sat cross-legged on the bed, silently reciting the incantation of Changchun Gong.

About half an hour.

He then let out a long breath, a strange glint flashing in his eyes.

"The rank of the Everlasting Spring Skill is probably far above the ninth rank."

After only seven days of cultivation, he had already seen the threshold of Qi Gathering, which is what people call the Entering Grade.

The Great Zhou Dynasty established itself on the principles of Tao.

Cultivation level is the foundation of being an official. Don't think that passing the Daoist examination means you have a secure job. If you fail to reach a certain rank within a year, it's equivalent to failing the assessment and being dismissed from your post.

Every year, there are scholars who have passed the imperial examinations but are unable to obtain official rank.

If Song Li continues to cultivate the Old Farmer's Skill, it will probably take him a year to barely reach the next level.

The cultivation is complete.

Song Li then began to study the Celestial Official's panel.

Name: Song Li

[Level: Not Qualified]

[Exercise: Everlasting Spring Exercise]

[Spells: Sharp Metal Spell, Sweet Rain Spell]

[Fortune: 1/100]

The progress was displayed in the Luck column under the word "Yan Yi".

If the fortune of the world were a bushel, the Great Zhou would possess at least seven bushels.

Once one becomes an official, one will be blessed with good fortune, it's just a matter of how much.

An official like Song Li, who was at the very bottom of the nine ranks and eighteen levels, naturally had very little luck assigned to him.

Seven days is only a small part of it.

At this rate, it would take about two years to accumulate 100 points of luck.

As far as Song Li knew, besides getting promoted, there were actually some other ways to gain good fortune.

For example, making meritorious contributions.

However, the Great Zhou Dynasty has been at peace for a long time, without war for many years, so it is not easy to make meritorious contributions.

Moreover, he was an agricultural official, not a military official from the martial arts academy, and the magic he learned was not suitable for fighting on the battlefield or hunting down demonic or evil cultivators.

Besides, for most officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the way to gain good fortune was through assessments. If they could achieve good results in the assessments, they would also be blessed with good fortune.

However, Song Licai had only been in office for a month.

It's not advisable to be too flashy.

Always remember to stay calm and steady.

Song Li nodded, and his spiritual energy surged, gathering at the tip of his right fingertip.

Slash it towards the blade of the sickle.

It left behind a faint golden glimmer.

Even from a foot away, Song Li could feel the chilling aura emanating from the sickle.

"It's probably three times sharper than ordinary swords."

The Sharp Metal Technique is one of the basic Five Elements spells. It was chosen by the farmhouse as a basic skill to harvest the spirit wheat when it ripens. However, Song Li has now refined it into a killing technique.

Song Li's lips curled up slightly.

He doesn't like to cause trouble.

But sometimes, only by grasping the truth can one reason logically.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, some civil officials were even more powerful than military officials in combat, all so that they could better reason things out.

Skill is the foundation, technique is the skin.

Martial arts practitioners, agricultural practitioners, industrial practitioners, and criminal practitioners are all cultivators. Their cultivation methods may differ, but not significantly. What distinguishes cultivators from one another is their magic.

However, in order for officials to better perform their duties, the imperial court made distinctions when teaching magic.

The agricultural official's magic focused on planting, not combat.

In reality, it is not uncommon for agricultural officials to practice combat spells. In fact, because the techniques practiced by agricultural officials tend to focus on health preservation, their spiritual power is more enduring than that of other cultivators, giving them an advantage in endurance when fighting against others.

of course.

Song Li doesn't like fighting and killing unless absolutely necessary.

I feel like my strength has almost recovered.

He picked up his sickle and went out again.

......

......

The assessment is approaching.

Zheng, the head of the farmhouse, made a rare appearance on the ridge of the spirit field to inspect the planting of spirit wheat by the farm officials in the farmhouse.

Every now and then, the sound of Manager Zheng scolding could be heard.

"Master Zheng is a fierce fellow."

Zhao Hui grinned.

When he first entered the government and his mindset had not yet completely broken away from Daosheng, he was intimidated by the official's imposing manner from a great distance.

He secretly rejoiced that Chief Zheng had not come to inspect this area.

After Zheng, the head of the department, walked away.

Zhao Hui walked into Song Li's spirit field and nudged Song Li's lower back with his elbow: "Brother Song, I heard... I heard that Steward Zheng has an unmarried daughter, and recently there have been rumors that he is seeking marriage with her."

Upon hearing this, Song Li straightened up.

"What do you mean, Brother Zhao?"

He didn't understand why Zhao Hui suddenly brought this up.

Zhao Hui scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly: "Brother Song, what do you think of my looks?"

Song Li raised an eyebrow slightly.

Good guy.

So they wanted to take a shortcut.

In this world, besides the step-by-step cultivation, there is another way to break through to a higher realm: getting promoted. The higher the official rank, the more fortune one gains.

With more luck and fortune, one can also break through, but one's foundation is not as solid as that of a cultivator who has cultivated on their own, and their combat power is also inferior.

But the arduous practice is too difficult to endure, and not many people rack their brains to find shortcuts.

However, Zhao Hui's qualifications were not even as good as Song Li's, so he didn't have much room for advancement.

"I'm still too eager to improve."