At noon, a roc carried two city guards, flying away from the beast pens on the side of the City Lord's mansion.
After testing his second son, who couldn't cultivate, and personally witnessing him gain the aptitude to practice, Qin Kuan was astonished.
After calming himself, he handed the remaining crystal in his hand to his trusted city guards, instructing them to deliver it to Prince Lu, who directly governed Jinyang City.
The Divine Origin Continent had been unified by the current Tianqi Dynasty hundreds of years ago. The imperial family members had all been enfeoffed with their own territories a hundred years ago, and each year, the kings of the various fiefs had to pay taxes to the imperial family residing in the capital.
Jinyang City was one of Prince Lu's fiefs.
...
Prince Lu's Mansion.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
At this moment, Prince Lu rested his head on one hand and tapped his desk, listening with a lack of interest to the report from the Ministry of Revenue. The taxes collected from various parts of the fief this year were no different from previous years.
The officials below were all reporting on the situation of each department for this quarter.
"Knock, knock, knock."
A knock sounded at the door. Prince Lu
"Your Highness, there is an urgent matter to report from Jinyang City."
"Send him in," Prince Lu waved his hand, signaling to pause the report from the Ministry of Revenue. He had almost fallen asleep listening to it, and now with new news, it was a good change of pace.
Soon, a guard at the door brought in a person dressed in the uniform of the city guard.
"Your Highness, this person is from the Jinyang City Guard. He said he has something important to deliver to Your Highness personally. That's why I..."
"Enough, even if they had the guts, they wouldn't dare to assassinate me," Prince Lu waved his hand and then asked the person kneeling below, "What does Qin Kuan have that he must personally deliver to me?"
The person bowed to Prince Lu again, raising both hands over his head to hand over a small wooden box and a letter. "Your Highness, our City Lord asked me to deliver this wooden box and this secret letter to Your Highness together."
The guard took the wooden box and the letter, stood to the side, and opened the wooden box. Seeing that there was nothing special inside, he then placed the secret letter on the table in front of Prince Lu.
Prince Lu glanced at the envelope. The wax seal was still intact. He picked up a small knife placed nearby and slowly opened the secret letter.
"To Prince Lu,
Your subject has served diligently in Jinyang City for many years. Although I have not accomplished any great deeds, we have safely weathered the beast tides that occur every few years under Your Highness's protection.
This time, I discovered a newly opened shop in Jinyang City that sells an item called a crystal.
I have already taken steps to present this item.
This crystal can change the aptitude of those who cannot cultivate, thus transforming them from individuals unable to cultivate into cultivators.
I have personally tested this on my second son, and this matter is indeed true. However, the shop owner selling this item stated that he is not entirely confident that it can truly change the state of ordinary people who cannot cultivate.
Therefore, I am now reporting this matter to Your Highness and request your decision.
Your subject, Qin Kuan of Jinyang City."
As soon as he finished reading the letter, Prince Lu sat up straight. He took out the crystal from the wooden box and examined it repeatedly in his hand. Then, he looked at his officials below.
"All of you, take a look. Have you ever seen this in other places?"
The officials took turns examining it, but they all shook their heads, indicating they had never seen such an item.
"I have never seen this item."
"I have never seen it either."
"..."
After going around, the guard took back the crystal from the ministers and placed it back on Prince Lu's desk.
"Find an ordinary person who cannot cultivate to come here, and bring the spirit stones as well."
Prince Lu waved his hand, signaling his attendant to find someone.
Soon, an ordinary person was brought over. He was a young servant responsible for sweeping and cleaning in the front courtyard of the mansion. After being tested at the age of twelve and found unable to cultivate, he was sold into the mansion by his family and eventually assigned to do menial tasks in the front.
"How old are you?" Prince Lu asked the young servant.
The young servant knelt on the ground, not daring to raise his head. After all, this room was full of nobles, and he dared not look them in the eye.
"I am seventeen this year."
"Oh, that's been several years. Place your hand on the spirit stone."
Prince Lu gestured for the guard to place the spirit stone in front of the young servant.
The young servant obeyed and placed his hand on the testing spirit stone. He knew himself that he was a useless person who couldn't cultivate, so he was a bit confused as to why the Prince wanted him to test again.
As expected, when his hand touched the spirit stone, the stone showed no change.
"Give this to him to consume," Prince Lu pointed to the crystal placed on the desk.
"Yes." The guard then picked up the crystal and brought it to the young servant.
The young servant did not look up. Upon hearing the Prince's instruction to consume something, he resignedly raised his hands and accepted the item.
Then, without any hesitation, he quickly swallowed the crystal.
Accompanying a piercing headache, a warm current then flowed through the young servant's entire body, constantly cleansing his meridians and flesh.
Prince Lu and the assembled officials watched this scene with astonishment. After the young servant stopped clutching his head and crying out in pain, Prince Lu again asked the servant to place his hand on the spirit stone.
A scene that greatly shocked them occurred.
As the young servant's hand touched the spirit stone, the stone actually emitted a golden light.
"Gold spirit root!" One of the officials couldn't help but stand up from his seat in shock, exclaiming at the sight.
It was no wonder the official was so agitated. The issue of cultivation aptitude had always been an age-old problem for humanity.
This crystal was simply something that could change the destiny of all humanity, as the threshold of cultivation aptitude had blocked the cultivation path of countless people.
Yet, at this moment, cultivation aptitude seemed to no longer be a problem for humanity.
"I never expected that Jinyang City would possess such a heaven-defying item."
"Indeed. An ordinary person who couldn't cultivate for so many years has actually become a gold spirit root."
The fundamental requirement for these officials to enter officialdom was also the ability to cultivate, even for civil officials.
In the eyes of the world, those who couldn't cultivate were considered waste. Not only could they not improve their physical fitness, but their lifespan was also relatively short compared to cultivators.
Ordinary people living past sixty were already rare, as their physical fitness couldn't be enhanced, and with the medical conditions of this era lagging behind, unless they were from wealthy families, ordinary people generally had shorter lifespans.
Even among these officials who could cultivate, many of them had offspring who couldn't cultivate.
"It seems I must personally visit Jinyang City."