Chapter 73

Shen Lu stood up and bowed "I shall do as the minister says. When the letter is finished, I hope the minister can look over it, after all, the Eunuch Ceremonial Hall is operated by the esteemed high eunuchs, I dare not make a request to them."

"Naturally, the eunuchs of the Eunuch Ceremonial Hall have always been known for their unbreakable morality. As for the rewards for the mission… the marquis used ten contribution points to ask for the help of us, the eunuch himself will get five contribution points while the Eunuch Ceremonial Hall will get three points; two for us for helping and taking responsibility."

All ministers nodded. They would just give the mission away, but their hall would still get a part of the pie just for 'taking responsibility' when it was clear that the eunuchs had that covered. 'Fighting with the brush' also meant securing benefits for yourself; it was one of the reasons the Prime Minister, even when at such a high level, could never claim too much power in the balance of the capital. He aimed more at personal benefit, but the eunuchs were working for the good of all, of course only as long as 'all' worked for the empire.

…

The following days had no surprises for Ji Li and his companions, who had already begun dual cultivation. At the second day after asking, they were permitted to take the exam. With the dual cultivation, they potential increased sharply, and they could truly be life-long companions of Ji Li without worrying about being left behind, but that would only be later on.

Currently they were still somewhat behind and could only individually fight middle-stage Essence Awakening monsters. They were given the option of fighting a high one together, but a sharp glance from Ji Li stopped the eunuch in charge from offering it a second time before they started the fight, which wasn't too 'unexpected'.

It ended quickly for both of them, just as it had for Ji Li. Still, they knew that if it was a high stage one, it would take longer and be an unnecessary risk only a few days away from their trip, where they would likely face stronger monsters anyway.

The imperial roads were all save, but it was inevitable for monsters to hide away when young and show their fangs when they reach adulthood as long as that adulthood was at most the talent refining stage. The empire would allow those monsters to roam free in the wilderness as long as a proper city lord was enough to reduce the dangers.

This tactic was used to keep the normal population in the cities and ensure that the adventurous once had the chance to fight monsters in a safe environment than the borders, which although organised, were still the grave for dozens of soldiers daily. If it wasn't for the extremely large population of the empire, that would reduce their fighting force a lot.

Rong Xi arrived just a day later, having been stopped by many issues that came with becoming a city, but it wasn't bad. Ji Li had told him to come three days after the letter arrived, it was only the second day and he had been told to look around the city while sending Shanmao Luo his way.

…

Shanmao Luo knocked at the guest hall of Ji Li's residence. They had perceived him and his friend as they entered the outer yard, Qianyu willed some wind to open the door and lead the two towards the front yard.

The guest hall was only for strangers or for more official events. Luo was already somewhat of a servant to Ji Li, so he didn't want to act too pompous.

It would give off the message that he was of a much higher rank and that their distance was great, something Ji Li didn't want to do. He had few servants, actually only Rong Xi, there was no plan to take on many in the future.

Since his servants would all be either important or talented, he didn't want to give them the impression that he cared only for his reputation and face. If he did that, then they would act like that too, and that would be too annoying and troublesome.

The two bobcat beast kin entered the front yard and were slightly surprised by the familial air on scene but bowed anyways. Shanmao took a step forward "I greet the esteemed eunuch. I hope I have not let you wait too long."

Ji Li answered "No, I would have called you earlier if I wanted you to be here earlier. Let me be honest, I am on a tight timetable, so you may show me your medallion."

This was what Luo expected, so he took no offense and took out a wooden box from him spatial ring. The box had intriguing rune work on it, a craftmanship which was a basic ability of dwarven crafters. In the empire, formations were more popular, but in the end, formations were just more immaculate rune work in normal languages, while rune work depended on older languages with more power to them.

Single runes might be stronger than some weaker formations, but on a higher stage, formations were stronger and even runes formed rune formations. The issue was that stronger languages were normally those with long history but few speakers, enlarging the danger of misinterpreting a word and rune, while normal formations, also known as emerald formations, because it's use of the emerald language, had its origin in an old and powerful language that was currently spoken.

Qianyu willed the box to fly towards Ji Li, who then opened it. Inside, he saw something very interesting. Like previously, the outer layer of the medallion were several leaves that enclosed something. The difference were the details in the leaves, and how every line were actually hundreds of tiny runes that formed a small formation.

Looking inside, the runes flowed down the leaves' lines and became one with the seed, which pulsed slightly. With each pulse, nature essence was given off the seed that spread towards the eunuch and bobcat figures, making them shine with a green sheen.

This medallion was even more of a statement than the previous one. It was telling Ji Li that the jeweller would use runes and jewellery to empower him. Satisfied, Ji Li let out a smile as he looked at the jeweller "You have not disappointed me in the slightest."

Shanmao Luo knew it was his time to do an oath, so he knelled down and began "May the Emerald Tree shine forever, for I, Shanmao Luo of the Bobcat Beast Kin Lineage swear to serve and work for his esteemed self, Eunuch Ji Li. I vow to with the life of mine to never disappoint and always strive to better myself in my work."

Liking the vow, Ji Li nodded with a smile as he accepted "May the Emerald Tree shine forever, I Eunuch Ji Li accept your vow, Shanmao Luo of the Bobcat Beast Kin Lineage. Shall you strive forward and become a great craftsman to serve with dedication, for I will give you the power and to do so. The walls of the Eunuch Palace welcome a new face together with his family, it's protection will ensure your safety for generations to come."

With this both of them glowed in a green hue, the emerald tree accepted their vows and allowed it to happen as a witness. Protection and power in exchange for servitude and ambition, a slightly different but still basic vow, which was to be expected.

Ji Li pushed a bit of his wooden essence into the seed, making it stronger. He saw that it might grow over time, probably an effect that wasn't what Luo aimed at, but if he kept this medallion in essence-dense areas and lets it absorb essence, including the occasional wooden essence, then it might very well become an essence allure.

"Come again tomorrow with Rong Xi, I will take you both to the Servant Palace to introduce you officially to your new home. You can decide whether you want to sleep in a house provided by the servant hall or go back to Ferrarius City. I suggest the latter, but you should still ask for a house while I'm here, it would be easier for you."

"I shall follow esteemed eunuchs command" a tree root rose from the ground and pushed Luo out of his kneeling position, it was less embarrassing this way, instead of having him stand up.

…

The next day, like planned, Ji Li took Rong Xi and Shanmao Luo to the Servant Palace. Stone and Monkey were still exhausted and only acted a bit the day before, but they had not even spoken or stood up, only Qianyu willed some energy to open the door and lead the way in.

Bureaucracy was all that took place; Rong Xi would get his ceremony to be officially given the Baron title in the Eunuch Ceremonial Hall. Although that wasn't common, the hall could hold any kind of ceremony, so it wasn't too uncommon.

Baron's and all the other types of nobles would get a residence provided by the Ministry of Management. It would still be inside the inner city but might take too long to reach the Eunuch Palace Complex, so they were given a small estate that could fit around fifty people right outside the Palace Complex, it was also where other larger factions had an outpost.

Luo was given a small two-story inside the eunuch palace complex, it was in the higher servants quarters, so he could live comfortably with his 'friend' while also building up a small forge for himself in the future, though he would go back to Ferrarius City after Rong Xi's ceremony.