"[You have obtained the Thousand-Mile Token!]"
"[Thousand-Mile Token (Special Edition)]"
"[Quality: Third-tier top-grade]"
"[Effect: When triggered by Primordial Energy, it automatically sends a distress signal to a specified location and marks the position for the receiving target.]"
.......
"[You have obtained the Calendar of Evil!]"
"[Calendar of Evil (Special Edition)]"
"[Quality: Third-tier top-grade]"
"[Effect: Can provide early warnings based on the user's Qi Fortune level. The higher the level, the stronger the effect. The maximum applicable level is 'Yan 3'.]"
.......
Having received the treasures, Chen Shijie gave a few instructions, and everyone thanked him before taking their leave.
Zhao Xing held the two treasures in his hands, feeling somewhat surprised.
He had not expected the appearance of the Xuantian Sect to allow him to obtain these two treasures in advance, and they were even special editions.
"The Thousand-Mile Token had an additional auto-tracking and positioning function compared to the Thousand-Mile Sound Transmission Talisman. Sometimes situations were so urgent that there was no time to speak, making the token much more useful than a single-use talisman." Zhao Xing looked it over and noted the red, blue, and green beads embedded in it.
Each bead corresponded to different levels of emergency. Red represented extreme danger, generally indicating events like an invasion by an enemy nation. Upon receiving such a signal, a small military force at the very least would be dispatched to investigate.
Connecting it to what Wang Long previously said about the East Lake Army, Zhao Xing concluded that this token was likely specially made for the military.
Just looking at the grade, one could tell it was a Third-tier top-grade treasure, something an ordinary person would find hard to come by.
Calendars were common; even regular households had them, but most were not graded.
Any calendar that was graded generally had magical effects.
Like this Calendar of Evil.
"It's not the full version of the calendar but still a special edition one, removing the 'lucky' effects while enhancing the 'evil' avoiding effects."
"The higher the Qi Fortune level, the more obvious the effect would be."
The full version of the calendar was very difficult to obtain, as it was kept within the Imperial Palace and classified as a superior 'rare treasure.'
All the world's calendars were derived from this superior 'rare treasure.'
This treasure's ranking was not weaker than the subsequent 'Yun Meng Academy,' though it still fell short compared to the 'Dream Palace,' which was a national treasure.
Even so, obtaining the Calendar of Evil was still quite good.
Calendars with 'lucky' effects were extremely rare, usually ranked Fourth-tier or higher, and to activate a powerful effect, a grade of Seventh-rank was necessary.
The Fortune Dynasty generally set it up this way to prevent people from using it for evil purposes and to ensure that nobody profited without effort.
Moreover, if everyone could 'get lucky,' it would be as if no one could.
"The poor and destitute could not obtain the 'lucky version' of the calendar, and the few who had it were wealthy and noble, unlikely to use it for profiteering."
"Hmm, my Qi Fortune level is Yan 2, the effect of the Calendar of Evil should be good… hmm?" Zhao Xing had just left the Minister of Agriculture Supervision, planning to visit his fields in the eastern suburbs, when suddenly, the calendar started flipping through its pages without wind.
Rustle~ The calendar turned and then stopped on one page.
"[Jingxin Calendar, 15th Year, July 22, Transitional Hour, 7:45 AM.]"
"[Evil Avoidance Warning: Moderate Evil; Traveling east, hidden danger lies ahead.]"
This was what the calendar displayed.
At the same time, a prompt appeared on the panel.
"[You have used the Third-rank treasure 'Calendar of Evil.' Based on your Qi Fortune level and known information, you received the following prompt:]"
"[If you set out at Si hour and go to the eastern suburbs, you will encounter a hidden Xuantian Sect believer at a teahouse, accidentally attracting their attention and facing uncertain life and death. Do not go!]"
"Damn, hidden danger, could it be that those lunatics from the Xuantian Sect really came near Gucheng?" Zhao Xing looked at the calendar and compared it to the panel prompt, feeling speechless.
Bad omens were divided into four levels: minor, moderate, major, and extreme.
Generally speaking, the latter three were rare.
Unexpectedly, he had just got his hands on it and encountered a moderate level bad omen.
Given that Zhao Xing was already aware of the Xuantian Sect and various information about them, the panel's presentation was more detailed.
Was his Qi Fortune really that useful? He had just received a prompt like this as soon as he got it?
"Do not travel at Si hour, hidden danger lies ahead, I better stay away." Zhao Xing decisively chose to avoid the east; he would not be going to the eastern suburbs today.
As for reporting it? That was not possible. There was too little information; there were so many teahouses in the east, who knew which one had the demon? Even if he had detailed information, he could not explain it since the Calendar of Evil did not provide such specifics.
The Great Zhou did not have sects; any that existed in the past were expelled from the Nineteen States. 'Expelling sects beyond the borders' referred to the accomplishments of a certain past emperor.
Therefore, as long as a unified Qi Fortune Dynasty system was established, there would essentially be no soil for the existence of Evil Gods, sect demons, and the like, only some minor, shady activities at most.
"However, even under such circumstances, the Xuantian Sect managed to stir things up across several dynasties occasionally, declaring their presence. This was still terrifying; it was one of the rare ancient sects with active members even in the era of dynasties."
"Most of the main sect was sealed and dormant, but the few remaining followers were still a considerable force, at least to someone like me at present," Zhao Xing thought to himself.
"I wonder if others would notice. However, if there were Xuantian Sect believers spying around the public fields…"
Turning around, Zhao Xing returned to the Minister of Agriculture Supervision and found Chen Ziyu and Qian Dong.
"Ziyu, Qian Dong, what are your plans for later?"
"Ziyu and I plan to go to the eastern suburbs, then return home for lunch and head back to the eastern suburbs," Qian Dong said lazily, "The food at the Minister of Agriculture Supervision doesn't suit my taste."
"It's already the Great Heat solar term. We must continuously use the 'Cultivation' spell to survive while re-cultivating Primordial Rice. It is truly laborious, sigh…" Chen Ziyu said with a frown.
"By the way, big brother, what did Chen Shijie call you for?" Qian Dong asked.
"He said there were demons causing trouble, specifically targeting officials from the Minister of Agriculture Supervision and Heavenly Workshop. Chen Shijie urged us to be careful and gave us some protective items." There was nothing to hide; it was already common knowledge by now.
The law and order in Nanyang County were good, at least in their impression, so neither Chen Ziyu nor Qian Dong took it seriously. Instead, upon hearing that Zhao Xing had received two treasures, they clamored to see them.
Zhao Xing was also eager to dissuade them from going to the eastern suburbs, so the three of them simply stayed in the city for lunch. In the afternoon, he took out the calendar, took a step to the east, and found no warnings, which relieved him greatly.
"No warnings, they should have left? Maybe they were just scouting? I heard that Li Chengfeng and other ranked clerks did not take it seriously at all. Instead, they deliberately went to the eastern suburbs, hoping to earn some merit. I wonder if anyone went missing." At this point, Zhao Xing wished the Xuantian Sect would cause some trouble and capture some ranked individuals. Having fewer strong competitors would increase his chances of promotion significantly.
But such thoughts were destined to be wishful thinking. By the beginning of August, nobody had gone missing, and Gucheng was at peace, with even some of the East Lake Army withdrawing.
On August 2, Old Minister of Agriculture Xue Wenzhong returned to Huai Liu Courtyard after a ten-day sick leave, and nothing seemed to have changed much.
The people of the Minister of Agriculture Supervision quickly forgot about the matter as the Start of Autumn assessment was about to begin.