Chapter 2168: City Lord

"Is it the same in other cities? Do they also have a City Lord Stele where the previous City Lord can imprint their will?" Zhang Xuan looked at Qi Ling'er. Since she was also a City Lord, she must have experienced this and might know something.

"Every city has a City Lord Stele; it's used to establish rules. However, almost no one can imprint their will upon it. Doing so is akin to giving the stele sentience, turning it into a magical artifact! In the future, the collective power of wishes gathered from the entire city would strengthen the stele, but it wouldn't be very useful for the person who imprinted their will," Qi Ling'er explained. She was also puzzled. She had barely heard of such a thing, even in the Imperial City. The City Lord Stele governs a city, and its established rules are like laws, representing justice and impartiality. If someone were to leave their will on it, the power of wishes generated by the entire city would nourish this will. Could it truly remain under their control? Not just a single will, even a clone, if separated from the main body for too long, couldn't maintain its original intent. It was like Kong Shi from the Azure!

"What kind of person was God-King Ye Yu?" Instead of continuing to refine the City Lord Stele, Zhang Xuan looked at Ming Laixiang, who was not far away. God-King Ye Yu was the previous City Lord, the one who died during the spiritual energy tide.

"He was righteous, fair, and praised by everyone," Ming Laixiang said with a wry smile. "Precisely because no one could achieve that level of integrity, the stele has been difficult to refine, and no one has been able to truly convince everyone. That's why Nightglow City hasn't had a true City Lord for so many years..."

Zhang Xuan nodded. No wonder. He had previously wondered why, since City Lords could use the teleportation array, many powerful individuals would surely be willing to take the position. Yet, after nearly a decade, such a large city remained without a ruler. It seemed it wasn't as simple as he had imagined. This was why Ming Laixiang, despite losing the competition to him, didn't seem to mind. She knew that to become City Lord, one first had to pass the stele's test; otherwise, they would, at most, remain a candidate like herself.

"If I can't destroy it or erase it, I'll just refine it like a weapon!" Normally, refining a weapon with its own sentience would take years of interaction to gradually assimilate it, but Zhang Xuan didn't need that. He flickered, reappeared before the stele, tapped it several times, and whispered a message. The stele trembled but did not yield. When refining a weapon, if one finds a flaw and is willing to sacrifice its sentience, it will surely submit. However, this stele was clearly tougher than an ordinary weapon. It knew that Zhang Xuan absolutely would not dare to destroy it.

"It doesn't matter if you disagree. You left your will in the stele likely because you foresaw danger to yourself and hoped to absorb more of the city's power of wishes to revive sooner!" Zhang Xuan smiled faintly and continued his mental transmission: "It's a good idea, but without a new City Lord in the city, the rules have been completely disrupted, and the power of wishes has gradually diminished. It's been nearly a decade; have you succeeded? If you had, you wouldn't still be in the stele. You clearly haven't succeeded, and you won't in the future!"

"I have no desire for the City Lord position. I just want to use the City Lord Token for spatial teleportation. If I become City Lord, I can continue to uphold the rules you established, and your will can even remain within the stele. Only with a new City Lord can the rules be reinstated, allowing you to absorb more power of wishes and recover!" Zhang Xuan's voice carried the power of "Teacher's Impartation of Heavenly Mandate." The will within the stele seemed to hear his words, and its previously strong resistance slowly stabilized. Zhang Xuan had no interest in the City Lord position. Even if he needed the power of wishes later, like Kong Shi, a single city or region would never be enough. Therefore, if the other party wanted it, he would give it to them. It was even better if the rules remained unchanged, as he had no time to bother with them.

"Make your decision soon; I don't have that much patience! Whether I become City Lord or not is irrelevant to me. At worst, I'll just destroy the stele," Zhang Xuan continued. He had little desire for power and was indifferent to the other party's threats.

"I'll give you ten breaths to consider!" After saying this, Zhang Xuan said no more, stepping back two paces and placing his hands behind his back.

"How is it? Are you unable to refine it?" Ming Laixiang smiled and asked. Seeing him like this, she felt somewhat comforted. Although he was stronger and more talented than her, when it came to refining the stele, they were essentially in the same boat, with little difference... Just as she anticipated seeing his frustrated expression, she saw the young man standing calmly, a faint voice emanating from his lips. "Ten, nine, eight, seven..."

"Huh?" Ming Laixiang was startled. 'I asked if you couldn't refine it too. Why are you counting down?'

"...Three, two, one!" While she was still pondering, Zhang Xuan finished counting and looked at the stele. "Make your decision!" After speaking, a sword qi flickered at his fingertip, ready to shoot forth at any moment. Sensing the resolute determination in his sword intent, as if he truly meant it and would act if it didn't comply, the entire stele suddenly vibrated with a resounding hum.

"Now that's more like it!" Zhang Xuan smiled faintly and once again dripped his blood, infused with his will, onto the stele. The next moment, it was absorbed, and the stele was completely refined. "This..." Ming Laixiang was stunned. She had tried countless methods before, all without success. Yet, this person in front of her had refined it just by counting down from ten... Could it really be that simple?

"I've refined the stele, so I can be the City Lord now, right?" Feeling his own will appear on the stele, Zhang Xuan smiled faintly. Though full of reluctance, Ming Laixiang eventually nodded. She couldn't defeat him, and her ability to refine the stele was far inferior to his. There was no denying it.

"This is a beauty pill for you. While it can't change your bone structure to make you entirely like a woman, it can easily make you appear more feminine!" Zhang Xuan flicked his finger, and a low-grade God Essence Pill flew over. "Have Lin Xie and Wu Yang handle things for me. In two hours, I want everyone in the city to know that I am the new City Lord and that I will continue to abide by the previous City Lord's rules without any changes!"

Although refining the stele would earn him approval as City Lord from others, it was better to have Ming Laixiang formally announce it to avoid potential trouble. Given her ability to contend for so long without being eliminated, she undoubtedly possessed her own influence and methods. Utilizing her would be much easier than handling everything himself.

"Alright!" After a brief hesitation, Ming Laixiang nodded. Zhang Xuan could handle the matter himself; he was merely asking for her help to avoid inconvenience. Given that, she might as well agree. After all, such beauty pills were priceless and rarely available. Agreeing to his request, she swallowed the pill. She then took out a bronze mirror and looked into it, her eyes gleaming. Just as the legends claimed, the effects were immediate. Her appearance and skin quickly underwent a qualitative transformation. Although her bones and physique remained masculine, her face became significantly more feminine than before.

After settling Zhang Xuan and his companions into the City Lord's manor, Ming Laixiang quickly flew away on a divine beast. As expected of the candidate with the highest support for City Lord, the news spread completely in less than two hours. Everyone learned that a person named Zhang Xuan had inherited the City Lord position and established the rules.

The news spread, and before evening, a letter of appointment and the City Lord Token, symbolizing his identity, arrived from Ghost Spirit Imperial City. "It worked..." Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. With this, he could use the city's teleportation array to quickly travel to Ghost Spirit Imperial City.

"These are the tokens for Nightglow City's three districts!" Seeing him become City Lord so quickly, Qi Ling'er was filled with surprise, yet had nothing to say. She had almost lost her life trying to become a City Lord. Yet, from the moment he arrived to becoming City Lord, he hadn't even used half a day... Indeed, one simply couldn't compare people.

"Refine these!" Handing the district lord tokens to Sun Qiang and his parents, Zhang Xuan looked again. "Little Yellow Chick and Zhang Jia are my beast pets; they are like extensions of me. They should be able to use the teleportation array, right?" "Yes!" Qi Ling'er nodded. Whether in the Master Teacher Continent, the Azure, or the God Realm, beast pets, due to their soul contracts, are essentially considered part of the same individual. Therefore, they could benefit from the teleportation array whether they had City Lord Tokens or not.

Zhang Xuan sighed in relief and instructed, "Try to refine your tokens today. Tomorrow morning, we'll depart for Ghost Spirit Imperial City!" Having just become City Lord, many things needed to be arranged to ensure everyone knew of his presence as City Lord. Otherwise, without a sense of presence, the power of wishes would lose its effect, and he wouldn't be able to use the teleportation array. Moreover, Sun Qiang and the others hadn't refined their district lord tokens yet.

Leaving the City Lord's manor, Zhang Xuan went to the plaza in front. He flickered, appearing above the City Lord Stele, and sat down cross-legged. "Since I've become the City Lord of Nightglow City, I naturally hope to see more and more experts emerge within the city. In two hours, I will lecture here, guiding everyone through their cultivation doubts!" With a faint smile, Zhang Xuan's voice resonated throughout the surroundings. Although he didn't know the exact use of the power of wishes, he knew that making others remember him and feel grateful would provide a continuous stream of it. For him, lecturing was undoubtedly the quickest and most convenient method. Just like Kong Shi establishing the Master Teacher Pavilion, only by imparting knowledge, resolving doubts, and spreading his own philosophy could his legacy endure for centuries without fading. Just like on the Master Teacher Continent, the name of Kong Shi would be immortal throughout eternity.

The news that the City Lord would personally lecture spread like wildfire. In less than two hours, over a million cultivators gathered in the plaza in front of the City Lord's manor. Seeing such a crowd, Zhang Xuan smiled faintly, and the voice of "Teacher's Impartation of Heavenly Mandate" echoed throughout the plaza. "Cultivation lies in the heart, in the spirit, in the soul..." His voice flowed like a tide, like a spring breeze, warming the hearts of the people. Everyone listened spellbound. Previously, they had wondered why Ming Laixiang would suddenly yield to a young man in his twenties, even warning everyone not to dispute him. Wu Yang personally attended a lecture and was completely convinced. It was no wonder he could become City Lord. Leaving everything else aside, his understanding of cultivation alone was superior to any expert they had ever encountered. Moving from shallow to profound and back to simple, it was foreseeable that the cultivation of so many attendees in Nightglow City would undergo tremendous changes, and the entire city would undoubtedly experience astonishing development in the future!