I subdue demons and monsters, and cultivate immortality in hell to become a saint.

The token for building the City God's Palace has been obtained.

Zhong Jiu immediately perked up, grabbed the token, and ran out of the city. Only a place with beautiful mountains and clear waters was worthy of the grandeur of the Divine Palace!

After searching seven or eight places in a row, from valleys with babbling brooks to mountaintops shrouded in mist, the system's prompts were all the same: "This place is not suitable."

"Where would be the right place?"

Zhong Jiu squatted on a rock, scratching his head. Suddenly, he slapped his forehead and scolded himself for being foolish. "The City God is the chief official of a city. How can he open his office in the middle of nowhere? Of course, he has to be inside the city!"

He immediately rushed back to Guiling City and stood at the crossroads in the city center, facing a dilemma. Guiling City is so big, he couldn't possibly build the City God Temple on the roof of an office building, could he?

Then, his eyes lit up: "There seems to be a City God Temple in the old town of Guiling City, a building that's hundreds of years old!"

He had been to that place when he was a child. It was quite lively back then, but later people went to worship at popular temples, and the City God Temple gradually fell into disrepair.

When Chung Kau arrived, he almost didn't recognize him. The wall was peeling off like bald patches, and the grass in the cracks between the bricks was taller than his knees. On the walls on both sides, two large characters "拆" (demolish) were painted in red paint, and the strokes had faded.

The word "demolish" was spat out before the yin energy erupted. The construction team had already prepared their tools, but when the ghostly calamity came, who would still have the mind to demolish the old temple?

The temple door was ajar, and a dim, yellowish light shone through.

When Chung Kau pushed open the door, he saw an old man in his seventies wearing reading glasses, leaning over the altar reading a book with the pages curled up.

This is the only remaining old temple keeper in the City God Temple, who has guarded this dilapidated temple for most of his life.

"Grandpa, how are you still feeling?"

Zhong Jiu greeted him, and the old temple keeper looked up, blinking in confusion: "You are... the one who burns incense?"

Zhong Jiu smiled and waved his hand, already having the answer in his heart: this was the place chosen by the system!

He took a few steps back, then suddenly threw the token into the air towards the center of the dilapidated temple: "City God's Palace, appear in the world!"

As soon as the token took off, the once clear sky was instantly covered with dark clouds, as black as if ink had been splashed on it.

Rumbling--

A thunderclap struck, shaking the entire city of Guiling. Sleeping people were thrown from their beds, while those who were awake were so frightened that they dropped their bowls.

"My God! Is this lightning going to shatter the heavens?"

"Look! The sky is full of thunder pythons!"

Citizens crowded around the windows, watching bolts of lightning as thick as bowls roll through the clouds, their purplish-gold light illuminating the night as if it were daytime.

Some children were crying loudly in fear, and the adults holding the children were trembling. This was not thunder, but the wrath of heaven descending upon the world!

The lightning looked terrifying, but it didn't harm a single mortal. The real victims were the evil spirits hiding in every corner of Guiling City.

The lightning carried the oppressive power of the underworld, instantly shattering the weaker evil spirits and causing them to scatter in terror. Even the slightly stronger ones clutched their heads and screamed in agony, scrambling and crawling towards the city's outskirts.

"Run! The underworld is here!"

"This lightning is specifically designed to kill us; if we stay any longer, we'll turn to ashes!"

The evil spirits that were originally hiding in the sewers and abandoned buildings are now all like frightened birds, wishing they had two more legs.

In the special operations team's office, Master Changdeng stared at the strange phenomenon outside the window, his peach wood sword trembling in his hand: "This isn't ordinary lightning; it's the 'Ghost-Suppressing Lightning' of the Underworld! That lord is plotting something big!"

The thunderstorm lasted for a full half hour, but inside the City God Temple, the old temple keeper didn't hear a thing and continued reading his book while hunched over his table.

The upheavals in the outside world seemed to be kept out by an invisible barrier; inside the dilapidated temple, only the flickering lamplight remained, and not even a speck of dust was disturbed.

At this moment, from the perspective of the underworld, a tremendous change was taking place before Zhong Jiu's eyes. The token turned into a golden light and landed. In the instant it landed, a series of ancient palaces rose from the ground, with upturned eaves and carved beams and painted rafters. More than a dozen palaces were connected together, like a miniature imperial city!

"Now this is what a City God's Palace should be like!"

Chung Kau was thrilled.

The Underworld City God's Palace covers the entire City God Temple in the mortal realm. Unless one is an extraordinary person or a cultivator, it is impossible to cross the two realms to see or sense this underworld deity's palace.

The entire divine palace was surrounded by a dark black city wall, which was two zhang high, with a faint golden light seeping from the cracks in the bricks; outside the city wall was a black moat, the water as still as a mirror, without even a ripple.

Two demon statues stood on either side of the gate, one holding an iron pestle and the other a steel whip, their green faces and fangs looking terrifying.

As Zhong Jiu approached, the statue's eyes suddenly lit up with a dim yellow light, scanning him as if verifying his identity. Only after confirming that he was correct did the light slowly fade away.

He reached out to pull the bronze ring on the gate, which was bigger than his fist and carved with a coiled dragon pattern.

But no matter how hard he tried, the gate remained completely still.

"What's going on? I'm the clerk here, and I can't even get into my own office?"

Zhong Jiu frowned.

The system notification had a slightly sarcastic tone: "[Host's current status: Ninth-rank Inspector (transitional stage), Eighth-rank Merit Officer's seal not activated, insufficient permissions. The main gate is only for officials of the Seventh rank and above; please use the east side gate.]"

"Damn, this City God's Palace is even more concerned with appearances than earthly officials!"

Zhong Jiu rolled his eyes, but secretly felt a little pleased. Even the doors were divided into different classes; this was the proper style of officialdom!

He went around to the east side and sure enough, he saw a side door that was about half a person's height. He pushed it open and it opened without any effort.

The moment he stepped into the divine palace, the dark clouds outside suddenly dispersed, the thunder stopped, and the moon peeked out, as if the thunderstorm had been nothing but an illusion.

Upon entering the mansion, Zhong Jiu was completely stunned. Compared to this place, the previous Inspectorate was nothing but a thatched hut.

The front yard alone was as big as three Inspectorate offices. On both sides of the yard were twelve three-legged tripods, with inscriptions of "rewarding good and punishing evil" engraved on their bronze bodies, exuding a heavy sense of power.

At the far end of the front yard stand two towers. A large drum hangs from the roof of the left tower, its red lacquered surface taut. An ancient bell hangs from the roof of the right tower, its bronze color blackened, clearly indicating its age.

Chung Kau climbed up the Drum Tower, picked up a drumstick, and struck it hard.

thump—

The drumbeats were so deep they seemed to strike people's hearts, shaking the dust in the courtyard and even making the tiles of the distant palaces hum.

He then ran to the clock tower and rang the bell.

when--

The bell tolled clearly and loudly, penetrating the divine palace and seemingly spreading throughout the Yin and Yang realms of Guiling City.

[Note: The morning bell and evening drum are signals from the City God's Palace. Beating the drum is to mobilize troops, and ringing the bell is to gather officials. These actions should not be taken without authorization except in emergencies.]

Zhong Jiu stuck out his tongue and quickly put down his drumsticks. It seemed that there were quite a few rules in this divine palace.

He continued walking and saw several magnificent palaces. In the very center was the "City God Palace," its plaque gilded and gleaming. But as soon as he approached, he was blocked by an invisible barrier.

The City God Temple is not yet unlocked; it will only be accessible after the City God enters the temple.

"Well, looks like I'm not the boss here after all."

Zhong Jiu shrugged and turned to look at the six halls next to him: the Hall of Swift Wind, the Hall of Inspectorate, the Hall of Rewarding Goodness, the Hall of Punishing Evil, the Hall of Increasing Fortune, and the Hall of Supplies. Each hall had a different plaque and exuded a different aura.

He tried them one by one. The door of the Gale Hall didn't budge, and the lock of the Inspectorate Hall gleamed with gold. Finally, when he reached the door of the Yin-Yang Division, he gently pushed it, and the door creaked open.

The hall was dimly lit. As soon as he stepped inside, the candlesticks on both sides lit up with a "whoosh," illuminating the hall with a warm yellow light.

Unlike the Censorate, which only has one altar, this place has more than a dozen tables. The one in the very center is obviously much larger and covered with dark red brocade, clearly the seat of honor; the tables on either side are slightly smaller and are for the assistant officials.

Next to the main seat, there was a separate table with the four small characters "Eighth-Rank Official" engraved on it.

This is where he should be!

As soon as Zhong Jiu sat down, the iron box on the table automatically popped open, revealing a palm-sized official seal made of bronze, engraved with the four characters "Yin Yang Gong Cao".

The moment he picked up the official seal, a flood of information rushed into his mind, and a majestic voice rang in his ears:

"Zhong Jiu, Inspector of the Swift Wind Hall under the City God's Palace of Guiling City, has been promoted to the rank of Eighth Grade Yin-Yang Division Chief Clerk for his meritorious service in slaying a demon, and will be in charge of the Yin-Yang Division's documents and assist in the affairs of various departments—So be it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the official seal of the Inspector in his arms turned into a ray of golden light and disappeared, replaced by the official seal of the Chief Clerk in his hand.