NOVEL NEXT Chapter 858: Appraisal
"Do you think they'll restrict our freedom now that we've joined Profound City, Brother Li?" Shi Chuankong asked.
"I don't think so. We'll most likely be assigned missions that'll take up some of our time. After all, given the inhospitable conditions in this domain, we'll inevitably have to make certain contributions and follow the rules," Han Li said.
"I hope things won't get too hectic. Honestly, I have no interest in becoming an acquired citizen or whatever," Shi Chuankong said as he pursed his lips in disdain.
"We don't really have much of a choice in the matter, we just have to be on our guard," Han Li said.
"Do you think they're going to try to plot against us, Brother Li?" Shi Chuankong asked.
"These are all fugitives who've been cast into exile, so they're certainly not good people. If they were kind and benevolent people, then I don't think they would've been able to survive until now," Han Li replied.
"That's true, it's definitely better to be safe than sorry," Shi Chuankong mused.
"What do you think of Chen Yang?" Daoist Xie suddenly asked.
"We haven't known him for very long, but he seems like a decent person, judging from his words and actions and the way that he treats his subordinates," Shi Chuankong replied.
"Have you noticed something amiss about him, Brother Xie?" Han Li asked."Like Fellow Daoist Shi just said, we haven't known him for very long at all, so it feels a little strange that he's willing to break the rules of Profound City for our sake," Daoist Xie mused.
"I don't think that's anything out of the ordinary, he's clearly just trying to win us over," Shi Chuankong said in a nonchalant manner.
"Perhaps so, but we definitely can't let our guards down, nevertheless," Han Li said.
……
Meanwhile, in a giant hall on the top level of the left wing of Green Goat City.
There were a series of huge braziers that appeared to have been fashioned from beast skulls hanging from the walls of the hall, and the flames burning inside illuminated the entire hall.
At the back of the hall was a massive stone table engraved with many complex designs depicting the stars that appeared at night.
Behind the table was a large black stone chair with a sheet of beast hide draped over it, upon which sat a physically imposing black-robed man.
One half of his face was covered in black scales, while the other half was severely mutilated as if it had been burned before. On top of that, he was twice the height of the average grown man, and his physique was almost comically muscular, presenting an extremely fearsome sight to behold.
Furthermore, his eyes were very unique, with tiny pupils that had a glowing silver ring around the outer edge.
Chen Yang was standing not far from the other side of the table in a bowed position, delivering a report.
The man on the chair was none other than City Lord Du Qingyang of Green Goat City, and after hearing Chen Yang's report, an intrigued look appeared on his face as he mused, "A human, a devil, and a sentient puppet... That's quite an interesting trio. No one has heard about them yet, right?"
"Rest assured, City Lord Du, I've already instructed my subordinates to keep their mouths shut," Chen Yang hurriedly assured.
"I heard that Profound City and Puppet City had recently fought over someone from the outside, and Puppet City won out on that occasion, much to Master E Kuai's dismay. Now, we've picked up two people from the outside at once. If Profound City hears about this, there's no way we'll be allowed to keep them," Du Qingyang said.
"That man from the devil race isn't all that important, but we absolutely cannot hand over that human. He has a true spirit bloodline in his body, and it would be a massive loss if he fell into someone else's hands," Chen Yang said.
"I'll leave the rest to you. Make sure you don't screw this up," Du Qingyang instructed as he leaned back in a lazy fashion.
"You can count on me, City Lord Du!" Chen Yang assured as he cupped his fist in a respectful salute.
……
That night.
Han Li was cultivating the Wingform Ascension Arts in his room when the sound of door-knocking suddenly rang out.
He opened the door to discover Chen Yang standing outside with an apologetic expression.
Han Li invited him into the room, upon which he said, "I must apologize, Brother Li. I was thinking that the city lord would be willing to agree to my request to exempt the three of you from undergoing the appraisal process, but to my surprise, he turned me down and scolded me for not upholding the rules of the city."
"It's fine, we should be following the rules in the first place, and we're happy to participate in the appraisal," Han Li replied.
"Even though the city lord turned down my request, he did agree to let both of you join my hunting party as long as you can fulfill the prerequisites to become acquired citizens," Chen Yang said.
"What are these prerequisites?" Han Li asked.
"The appraisal assesses the power of one's physical body. To be more specific, it assesses the number of profound acupoints one has opened up, and those who've opened sixteen or more profound acupoints will be categorized as acquired citizens, while those below that standard will become defected citizens.
“Those who've opened more than fifty-four profound acupoints can serve as the captain of a city guard team, while those with more than seventy-two profound acupoints can lead their own hunting party," Chen Yang explained.
Han Li recalled that during their battle, Chen Yang had only revealed around fifty to sixty profound acupoints, yet he was the captain of a hunting party, so it was clear that he hadn't displayed his full power back then.
"I see. When will the appraisal be carried out? If I recall correctly, the two scribes seemed to have said that it was the first thing that we were supposed to have done after entering the city," Han Li said.
"There's no hurry. You and Brother Shi must be quite wary from the long journey, so have a good rest today, and we'll carry out the appraisal tomorrow," Chen Yang replied with a smile.
"Alright. You have my thanks, Fellow Daoist Chen," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a salute.
"Please don't thank me, Brother Li. I'm still feeling quite guilty that I wasn't able to exempt the two of you from the appraisal process altogether," Chen Yang replied with a faint sigh.
"You have nothing to feel guilty about, Brother Chen," Han Li assured with a smile, and the two of them chatted for a while longer before Chen Yang departed.
Following Chen Yang's departure, Han Li sat back down in his room with his legs crossed, then devoured a beast core before continuing his cultivation.
The next morning.
Han Li's trio followed Chen Yang all the way to the bottom level of Green Goat City, then made their way through the black fortress to the city's right peak.
Just like the left peak, the right peak was also divided into four levels.
Upon entering the right peak, Han Li spotted a series of giant pens that were separated by stone walls, within which all types of massive beasts were being kept, among which were the giant beasts that Chen Yang's hunting party had captured.
There were also many gray-robed defected citizens in the pens, carrying out tasks like feeding and cleaning the beasts.
Han Li's trio continued onward without pause, going straight up to the second level, which was slightly smaller than the first level, but was also filled with a series of massive pens.
Compared with the beasts on the first level, the ones on the second level were clearly not as obedient, and they were either baring their fangs and growling, or slamming their bodies against their enclosures.
The majority of the people overseeing these pens were still defected citizens, but there were also some acquired citizen city guards among them that occasionally stepped in to discipline the unruly beasts.
Chen Yang led Han Li's trio to the third floor, and as soon as they arrived, they immediately encountered two familiar faces, namely the two crimson-robed scribes that they had encountered the day before.
Chen Yang exchanged some small talk with the two scribes, following which the two of them led Han Li's group into an individual stone chamber.
The stone chamber was quite large, significantly larger than Chen Yang's cave abode, but it was completely empty, giving it the appearance of an indoor plaza.
"The puppet doesn't need to be appraised. Which one of the two of you wants to go first?" the square-faced scribe asked.
"I'll go first," Shi Chuankong volunteered.
"Alright, please come this way, Fellow Daoist Shi," the round-faced scribe instructed.
In the center of the room was a black stone platform that was several hundred feet in radius and only no more than two feet tall. There seemed to be a layer of glittering white powder on its surface, which was reflecting the light of the lamps in the room.
Shi Chuankong stepped onto the stone platform as instructed, and the round-faced scribe said, "There's no need to do anything complex, Fellow Daoist Shi. Just activate all of your profound acupoints for us to see."
Shi Chuankong nodded in response, then clenched his fists as he let loose a loud roar, immediately following which a series of profound acupoints lit up all over his body.
Han Li swept his spiritual sense over the black stone platform and the glittering white power to ensure that nothing was amiss, then turned his gaze to Shi Chuankong.
As more and more profound acupoints lit up over Shi Chuankong's body, it occurred to Han Li that Shi Chuankong had opened up far more profound acupoints than he had.
Sure enough, Shi Chuankong's profound acupoints quickly surpassed Han Li's tally of thirty-seven, only stopping after the forty-fifth one had lit up.
At the same time, a burst of energy erupted out of his body, causing the glittering white powder around him to rise up into the air.
A faint smile appeared on Shi Chuankong's face, and he was just about to step down from the stone platform when the white powder that had been thrown up into the air suddenly began to converge toward him.
Due to the close proximity, Shi Chuankong didn't have any time to react before the white powder made contact with his body, and in the next instant, three more profound acupoints lit up over his body, bringing the total tally to forty-eight.