***
More than half an hour later, following the completion of the inspection by the great power of the Taishang Dao Sect, the alarm was also lifted.
People walked out from the various major sect stations and schools one after another.
A certain owner of a flying sword coating shop had been delayed for a while due to some matters, and upon his return, he discovered quite a few people lingering about the entrance of his shop.
Hmm?
Did this mean business had come knocking on his door?
However, when he clearly saw the situation inside the shop—especially when he saw several people standing by the computer, from which sounds unsuited for broadcast in a public place were emanating...
"Which scoundrel deserving of a thousand cuts had touched my computer!"
Xu Xing, who was the cause of all this, had already exchanged some spirit stones for the money of this era and was currently preparing to rent a place to stay for the time being.
In the city center stood a skyscraper dozens of stories high, with several large characters written prominently upon its side—'Sword Sect - Miscellaneous Affairs Hall'.
Sword Province was the largest province under the governance of the Sword Sect, and a branch of the Sword Sect's Miscellaneous Affairs Hall was established within Xuanjian City specifically to handle such matters.
A residence rented through the Sword Sect's Miscellaneous Affairs Hall was relatively more expensive, but it possessed the advantages of simple procedures and extremely high efficiency.
Two security guards stood at the main entrance; one carried a longsword upon his back, while a sword pellet hovered and spun beside the other.
Both individuals possessed a Golden Core cultivation base and wore a white jade plaque hanging from their waists, which indicated that they were outer sect disciples of the Sword Sect.
The sight truly looked somewhat abstract.
The number of people entering and exiting was not small, and Xu Xing's entry into the building did not attract anyone's attention.
As one of the Seven Great Immortal Sects, the Sword Sect possessed absolute confidence that no one would dare to cause trouble within its domain, even if it were merely a branch of the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.
It was only because of the struggle between Perfected One Xiao Ning and the demonic cultivator just now that they had dispatched two Golden Core sword cultivators to act as security guards to bolster their outward appearance.
The internal layout of the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall was similar to the service halls in Xu Xing's memory, with a massive mysterious light mirror hanging above, where various pieces of information flickered past at high speed.
The staff members behind the service windows on all sides mostly possessed Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment cultivation bases, with only one or two at the Golden Core stage.
They were all young minor practitioners, and one specific area had characters written brightly upon it—'Internal Channel for Sword Sect Cultivators'.
This could be considered a small benefit provided to the cultivators of the Sword Sect.
Since there was no one else there, Xu Xing walked directly over and produced a cyan jade plaque.
"Hello, I would like to rent a place to stay."
the person responsible for this area was a girl who looked to be about the same age as Zhang Yunlu; she was also one of the few Golden Core practitioners here and an outer sect disciple of the Sword Sect.
Name: Zuo Yuning.
Boundary: Golden Core.
"Alright, please wait a moment; I need to first confirm your identity on my end."
Zuo Yuning took the cyan jade plaque and inserted it into a device resembling a card reader.
Very quickly, several lines of text and a photograph appeared upon the computer screen.
Name: Xu Sandao.
Boundary: Nascent Soul.
Position: Deacon of the Outer Sect Law Enforcement Hall.
The information was quite simple, as cultivation was a very personal matter and the sect would not delve too deeply into the details of its disciples.
However... Xu Sandao?
Wait, as a Nascent Soul sword cultivator of the Sword Sect, was it appropriate for you to use such a name, Martial Uncle?
After complaining a bit in her heart, she confirmed that his appearance matched the photograph and then took out a square-shaped machine with a thumb-sized indentation in the center.
"Please inject a wisp of magical power, Martial Uncle, to confirm your identity."
Xu Xing nodded and raised his hand to strike a wisp of magical power from the 'Taixu Sword Code' at the level of the Nascent Soul stage into the machine.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
Eh?!
Why had it not come out yet? Normally, there would never be any delay.
She stood up and patted the computer twice, then gave Xu Xing an apologetic smile: "Please trouble yourself to wait a bit longer, Martial Uncle."
She hoped nothing would go wrong; she truly did not want problems to arise even in such a leisurely post.
Bang! Bang!
After two more pats, text finally appeared upon the computer screen.
"Confirmation passed."
Phew—
Letting out a sigh of relief, a professional smile reappeared upon Zuo Yuning's face: "Alright, Martial Uncle, do you have any specific requirements for the residence?"
"Somewhere quiet and spacious will be fine."
After hearing the requirements and performing a round of screening, she quickly handed a set of information to Xu Xing.
"What do you think of this location, Martial Uncle? It is situated near a spirit vein node with abundant spiritual energy, and since you are a Deacon of the Law Enforcement Hall, the rent can be reduced by thirty percent according to the regulations."
Xu Xing gave it a casual glance: "It's fine, I'll take this one."
Upon hearing his agreement, Zuo Yuning took three small wooden plaques and a written certificate from a drawer, handing them back to him along with the cyan jade plaque.
"This is the array center; once you pay the fee at the payment counter, a specialized person will lead you there, Martial Uncle."
"Thank you."
After offering his thanks, Xu Xing turned and left.
Watching him walk away, Zuo Yuning sat down and patted the instrument used for identifying magical power.
The cultivation world never lacked methods to disguise oneself; putting aside appearance, even the aura of magical power and the fluctuations of the divine soul could be disguised.
However, this new type of magical power identification system was connected to the supreme Ancestral Sword.
No practitioner could hide the essence of their magical power before the Ancestral Sword; logically speaking, it should provide feedback immediately without any delay.
Bang! Bang!
She gave it two more pats, and only after feeling that it was sufficient did she return the instrument to its original position.
Her master had once said that if something was broken, one only needed to pat it twice; if it still did not work, then it meant it was truly broken.
In the evening, heavy dark clouds covered the entire sky, and muffled sounds of thunder rang out from time to time; it seemed that this rain would be very heavy.
The Central Continent was extremely vast, with Sword Province alone being equivalent to the total surface area of dozens of Blue Stars from his previous life.
Consequently, Xuanjian City occupied a vast amount of land, comparable to several of the largest provinces from his previous life.
Within the most famous residential area of the city, uniform three-story villas were arranged in an orderly fashion, and their internal layouts were very exquisite.
Xu Xing had already signed the contract at this time; he took out the small wooden plaque that served as the array center and touched it lightly against the front.
Buzz!
Ripples appeared in the air as the array enveloping the entire villa opened a passage.
This was a rather crude Soul-Confusing Spirit-Gathering Array, which could only block small animals such as cats, dogs, mosquitoes, ants, and mice.
Even a minor practitioner at the Qi Refining stage could break it through brute force.
'The interior is also equipped with an alchemy room, a weapon-refining room, a spirit spring, and a quiet room provided with Mind-Clearing Incense; other entertainment and leisure facilities are also fully available.'
'The most important thing is that this place is under the protection of the Sword Sect; even that demonic cultivator from today would not dare to take action against this location.'
Generally speaking, it was similar to the immortal caves he had rented before his seclusion, but the level of comfort far surpassed that of those times.
'I will improve the array later to avoid anyone wandering in by mistake.'
Walking into the villa, Xu Xing wandered around; several diamond-shaped crystals were embedded into the walls of every room, which were the array foundations for the array 'air conditioning'.
This was also something created by Saint Emperor Yuan; it could adjust the temperature within a certain range, but the lower and upper limits were not high, so it was classified as an auxiliary type of array.
After a round of wandering, he walked to the massive floor-to-ceiling window; he saw raindrops the size of beans falling, and the flowers and grass within the garden swayed with the wind.
He raised his head to look at the sky; thunderous light flickered, and a storm was brewing.
Suddenly!
In the distance, a fist print rose into the high heavens, directly striking the heavy dark clouds in the sky.
In an instant, amidst a piercing light, the heavy dark clouds were 'squeezed' to the edges, looking like a circular blank area that had been erased by an eraser in the middle of a gray painting.
On the television that had been turned on to the side, a construction team was receiving an interview.
"Due to construction needs, we have decided to change the celestial phenomena on a small scale; this action has already received permission from the Sword Sect's Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, and we hope that other cultivators will not imitate it."
In the image, there was a person in the distance slowly retracting his fist; presumably, that strike just now had been his handiwork.
Civil engineering nowadays is a bit fierce.
***