The system is the proficiency panel

239. Events

In the main hall of Xuantian City, the smell of ambergris rose up.

Luo Youran sat upright on the dragon throne, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the dragon pattern carved on the armrests. This chair was made a month ago by the master of the Weapon Refining Hall who felt that the original chair was too plain and not suitable for Daozi, so he used the spiritual iron brought back from Tianyuan Star to recast a dragon throne and sent it to him. It was also a top-grade magical weapon with very high defensive capabilities.

However, she was still not used to the hardness of this chair. Lin Ji left for Shuilan Star too quickly, leaving the newly-started Xuantian Empire to her.

"Your Highness, this is the sixth application today."

Tan Yue said respectfully and clicked on the jade token to project the application form in front of Luo Youran.

"Hmm? A petition from the demon tribe? Can't we just let them go directly to Feng Tian or Qingniao?"

Luo Youran frowned. Generally speaking, Feng Tian and the Blue Bird Demon King were in charge of matters concerning the demon clan. They would only come to her when they couldn't make a decision.

"Because this involves the issue of salary and spiritual stones, Your Highness has to make the decision."

When Tan Yue answered, the projected Feng Tian flew out with his original image, holding his neck high in a pretentious manner.

"City Lord, we, the demon race, work tirelessly for the empire and supply a large amount of spiritual herbs and medicines. What we get every month is almost half of what cultivators of the same type get. In order to stabilize the output of spiritual herbs and medicines, I request a salary increase! An increase in spiritual stones!"

The sunlight filtered through the carved window lattices and sprinkled onto the bluestone floor of the hall, creating mottled light and shadows. Luo Youran slightly tilted his head and his eyes fell on the phantom of Feng Tian in front of him.

"Feng Tian."

She spoke slowly, her voice as clear and steady as a spring flowing through a mountain stream.

"Have you ever investigated why the salaries of cultivators are much higher than those of the demon race?"

Feng Tian's image trembled slightly in the air, his scarlet feathers flashing with a metallic luster, and he snorted coldly.

"Need I say more? It's because you humans are biased towards your own kind!"

Luo Youran shook her head, a look of understanding flashed in her eyes. She had already guessed what went wrong.

"That's not the case. The order I issued is that if the position and cultivation are the same, the salary of the human race and the demon race will be the same. If there is a difference, someone must have changed or deducted it. Feng Tian, ​​when did this start?"

Feng Tian flapped his wings violently, creating a heat wave, which was easily blocked by the surrounding defensive formations without causing any ripples.

"About half a year after Daozi left, the spirit stones began to gradually decrease. No one paid attention to it at first, but later when they found that almost half of them were missing, they reported it to me."

Luo Youran was silent for a moment, tapped the armrest with his fingers, making a slight sound, and suddenly responded with a smile.

"You need to ask the Blue Bird Demon King to go and find Master Li Jun. His disciples are in charge of the payment of part of the empire's salaries. I will send you the specific information through the jade token. Now let's go. You have raised the temperature of the hall."

"Humph!"

Luo Youran watched Feng Tian's shadow disappear. The remaining heat in the air gradually cooled down, and the hall returned to silence.

She stood up slowly, her robe dragging across the ground, the silk fabric leaving silent traces on the floor. She walked to the window, raised her hand and pushed open the half-closed wooden window. The breeze blew on her face, bringing the scent of grass and trees in the courtyard.

Tan Yue stood aside, the fluorescence of the jade token in her hand had not yet completely faded. Her eyes followed Luo Youran's back and asked softly.

"Your Highness, do you need me to send someone to check the accounts of Master Li's lineage? I guarantee that those people will never reveal who sent them, even if they die."

Luo Youran did not look back, but just shook her head gently, her fingertips stroking the exquisite wood carvings on the window frame.

"No need for that. As for matters involving Jindan Zhenren, let them fight among themselves first. Anyway, the Blue Bird Demon King is not good at dealing with people and will definitely go. Tan Yue, go prepare a detailed record of salary payments, especially the changes in the past six months and send it over."

Tan Yue nodded, turned and walked out of the hall, her steps light but with a hint of urgency.

Outside the window, a cloud in the distance was blown away by the wind, revealing the azure blue sky. Luo Youran's gaze passed through the eaves of the palaces and fell on the vast skyline.

Her thoughts drifted away, as if she had returned to the day when she had just accepted this position. Faced with the intricacies of government affairs, conflicts between the demon race and the human race, conflicts between mortals and cultivators, and those Jindan Zhenren who were completely unable to move, she was filled with anxiety, worried that she would not be able to help Lin Ji.

Now, she can deal with these affairs calmly, but there is still an unspeakable loneliness deep in her heart. Her relatives have long passed away, and Lin Ji is traveling far away. Only Xiao Ningxue, who she occasionally meets with, can tell her the truth.

She sighed softly, retracted her gaze, sat back on the dragon chair, and thought about what she could gain from this conflict.

With Yuanying Zhenjun not caring and Lin Ji not around, most of the power in the Xuantian Empire is now divided between her and the two Jindan Zhenren, Li Jun and Chen Qingcheng.

Even though the Chen family lost important cities and part of the Xuanjin Trading Company after the incident with Chen Changfeng last time, most of the commercial trade of the Xuantian Empire is still controlled by the Chen family.

The Li family is not large in number, and their desire for power is not as strong as that of the Chen family. They are content with having enough for what they need. They only control a portion of the Xuantian Empire's financial expenditures. They withhold the salaries of the demon clan, probably because of the hatred between the human and demon clans, and they want to create obstacles.

The power she holds seems to be very great. She can easily mobilize the law, the army, officials, and finances. Even the demon tribe listens to her because of Lin Ji.

But in reality, it is not that beautiful. After all, in the world of cultivation, strength is the key. She dare not offend the Golden Core True Man and can only suppress him at the family level. She cannot command the high-level artistic conception foundation at will.

Therefore, she was very short of high-level combat power. If she really encountered a tough opponent, she could only ask Xiao Ningxue for help. After all, she was Lin Ji's legitimate wife. Not to mention the foundation of artistic conception, even the Jindan Zhenren gave her face and could be called upon. It was not like she was just a lover...

Thinking of this, Luo Youran couldn't help but frown slightly, her fingertips tapping unconsciously on the armrests of the dragon chair, making low muffled sounds. Her eyes were still staring at the blue sky outside the window, but her heart was like a tangled mess, entangled with her thoughts.

'Compared to geniuses, I am really not that good at understanding artistic conception. It is too difficult to improve my own strength. So how can I improve the strength of the overall force in a short period of time?'

Pills?

No, the best elixir without side effects currently can only double your strength for a short period of time. It is quite useful below the state of mind foundation building, but it is not effective above that, and it cannot make up for the gap between the states of mind.

Magical instruments, magic weapons?

These things can indeed greatly enhance the abilities of cultivators, but starting from the top-grade magic tools, the difficulty of casting is extremely high. The last step is to inject the artistic conception that matches the properties of the spiritual material into it before it can be completed. Magical weapons require a complete artistic conception of the five elements to form a cycle.