Chapter 57: Passing the Assessment, Heading to Songyang (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

“Zhang Yu!”

“Zhang Yu!”

“Zhang Yu!”

Accompanied by these repeated calls, Zhang Yu jolted awake, only to hear a burst of laughter coming from the classroom.

Looking up toward the podium, he saw the teacher staring at him coldly: “Get out and stand in the hallway.”

Helpless, Zhang Yu stood up and walked out of the classroom.

Day after day of high school life, yet he felt no sense of hope.

His grades were getting worse, his ranking was dropping, and he had fallen from the honors class to the worst class. Whether it was his classmates or his teachers, the way they looked at him was as if he were a bucket of trash.

The various loans he had taken out to cultivate the Immortal Path were mounting, pressing down on him until he could barely breathe.

Finally, one day, he walked onto the school rooftop.

Just as he was about to take the step, his phone rang.

Zhang Yu answered the call, only to hear the voice on the other end say: “Hello? Is this Mr. Zhang Yu? A new cemetery has just opened in the North Suburbs. For only two hundred thousand, you can enjoy post-mortem corpse-refining services. You might even have a chance to live a second life...”

Zhang Yu let out a hollow laugh: “Your big data is damn impressive, isn't it? You even guessed I was about to jump? Too bad you didn't calculate that I'm penniless right now and can't afford your cemetery.”

The other party continued: “If you are penniless, don't you want a chance to turn the tables? Our company has the 'Heaven-Mending Plan.' If you are interested in learning more, I can send it to you...”

Zhang Yu hung up and continued to stare down at the abyss-like darkness beneath his feet.

“Turn the tables...”

After a moment of silence, he ultimately opened his phone again to look at the website the other party had sent.

A teddy bear appeared on the screen and spoke: “Make a wish to the gods.”

“As long as you perform the ritual for me, all your wishes can be granted within five minutes.”

“Completely free, zero threshold, no extra fees whatsoever.”

“Click once, and let your life be brand new...”

Watching this, Zhang Yu felt something—a certain painful memory—swirling through his mind, yet he couldn't quite grasp it.

It was a sense of constant coercion, constant torment, and being forced to endure suffering.

But before those painful memories could break through their cocoon, his emotions and instincts reacted first.

“Fuck!” Zhang Yu roared, violently throwing the phone away, then raised his middle finger: “Hahaha, you think you can scam me?”

“Try in the next life!”

Zhang Yu’s consciousness choked, and the next moment, he woke up once again in the classroom.

However, that memory and emotion regarding the Evil God grew increasingly intense, causing him to gradually remember something.

“I remember now. I am participating in the assessment for Divine Assistant personnel.”

“And this assessment seems to be related to Evil Gods?”

Zhang Yu felt he had grasped the key to this assessment and decided to perform well.

...

Sun Jiayi was a very proud individual.

Because he was not a human, but a god.

Although he was merely one of the 480 million minor officials of the Inspection Department, he was still a god, possessing the authority to audit humans.

Even though he was only auditing assessments for outsourced jobs paying 14 yuan an hour, he had always been diligent and serious in his work.

This was what it meant to be a god.

A god remains humble and never forgets his duties!

At this moment, before Sun Jiayi, one screen after another lit up, continuously playing various assessment scenarios.

These were tests of the applicants' instinctive reactions when facing the temptations of Evil Gods within the illusions of the Spirit Realm.

Whether an applicant for an outsourced position in the Inspection Department could withstand these temptations within the illusion... was the key to passing the assessment.

“This candidate from Tai Tian City—what is the meaning of writing out his entire family's assets and background in his resume?”

“So what if his net worth is over a hundred million? If you fail, you fail. Do you think I’ll show favoritism just because of your family background?”

Sun Jiayi sneered, dismissing the matter with contempt. Seeing the candidate hesitating within the illusion, he directly chose to fail him.

“Weak will. Unqualified.”

Sun Jiayi was a proud god. The more superior the background of the students he failed, the more he felt his divine pride, enjoying the satisfaction that came from his sense of duty.

His attention shifted to the next candidate from Hong'an City.

The candidate's resume was filled with various honors from his first and second years of high school. He was a top student, a regular in competitions, possessed dazzling talent, extraordinary ability, and infinite potential. He was highly likely to enter a top university or even join a great sect in the future.

But seeing the candidate struggling back and forth in the illusion, taking a full ten minutes before finally managing to reject the Evil God's temptation, Sun Jiayi still ruthlessly chose to fail him.

“Hmph, thinking that a bright future and a polished resume will make me show mercy? I am not one of those worldly people who only care about grades.”

“Even if he truly were a chosen one like a university student, if he falls into my hands, I say he fails, and he fails.”

“Taking so long to refuse shows a lack of resolve. How could I let you pass?”

His attention shifted again. This time, Zhang Yu's information and assessment content appeared before Sun Jiayi.

“Hmm, decisively throwing the phone away on the rooftop. Not bad.”

“The difficulty will increase next. Let's see how he handles that.”

The images on the screen changed rapidly as various methods of Evil God temptation took turns appearing before Zhang Yu.

There was a beautiful woman who admired him and wanted Zhang Yu to make a wish to the Evil God with her; Zhang Yu simply kicked her aside and fled at high speed.

There was a scenario where he was being hunted and driven into a corner, and the Evil God tempted him by offering to save him; Zhang Yu dismissed him with contempt, turned around, and threw the Evil God doll at his enemies, shouting: "Good stuff! You can wish for anything with this thing!"

When a giant ragdoll chased Zhang Yu, threatening him with terrifying power to force him into a contract, Zhang Yu began calling the police while running away. When the constables arrived, he actually tried to charge forward with them to fight the Evil God.

However... Sun Jiayi in front of the screen was no longer watching his lively performance, because someone had contacted him.

Seeing Zhang Pianpian pop up in the contact window, along with her title as the Acting Deputy Captain of the Inspection Team in Songyang City, he frowned slightly and said, “Is there something you need, colleague?”

Zhang Pianpian said, “There is a candidate named Zhang Yu. I hope...”

Sun Jiayi was about to wave her off and refuse, but he saw her activate a Talisman Book, directly casting a charm.

“You actually dare to cross the Spirit Realm and cast a charm directly upon a dignified minor official god like me?”

“How bold of you!”

But seeing the specific charm she used, Sun Jiayi immediately relaxed: “A Favor Charm?!”

A Favor Charm was a type of charm that could rapidly increase a deity's favorability.

The specific principle was that it didn't require the god's name, personal data, or even their account information. As long as the Favor Charm was activated while contacting them, it could directly transfer money into their account and automatically hide the transaction record.

Realizing the function of this Favor Charm, Sun Jiayi's serious expression softened.

“I didn't expect a mere mortal from a lower realm to be quite knowledgeable about talismans, even learning the Favor Charm.”

After noticing the changing numbers in his account, a smile appeared on his face, and he remarked with emotion, “For a high schooler to show such reverence to the gods, it shows a steadfast heart of faith.”

“What is it you want me to do?”

Zhang Pianpian was not surprised by this.

Based on her two years of experience using Talisman Books and learning charms, faith levels were boosted by top-ups, learning charms required top-ups, and requesting guidance from True Gods required top-ups... in short, talismans were just top-ups!

However, there were different ways to top up a god. Talisman Book top-ups, private transfers, public transfers, Favor Charms... the various channels were worlds apart, which involved the level of one's proficiency in charms.

Zhang Pianpian said, “Please, Great Deity, lower the difficulty of Zhang Yu's assessment just a little bit...”

Sun Jiayi said dismissively, “Hah, it's a job paying 14 yuan an hour. What difficulty could there possibly be in the assessment?”

...

Inside the illusion.

Zhang Yu looked at the world before him, his eyes full of confusion.

He currently appeared in a white room.

In the center of the room, a line of text floated: *The Evil God tempts you. Will you accept?*

Below it floated two options: *Yes* and *No*.

Wait... is this a trick question?

Because the question seemed too simple, Zhang Yu found himself unable to answer.

After thinking for a full ten minutes and failing to detect any trap, Zhang Yu nervously chose *No*.

The next moment, a notification that he had passed the assessment appeared before him.

Dazed, Zhang Yu withdrew from the Spirit Realm, still somewhat confused about what had happened.

Just then, his phone rang.

Zhang Yu answered, and Zhang Pianpian's voice came from the other end: "You should have passed your exam by now, right?"

Zhang Yu immediately voiced the doubts in his heart.

Zhang Pianpian explained, "Oh, I sent a little money to the minor official god on duty to lower the assessment difficulty a bit?"

Was that "a little"?

This is a god?

Zhang Yu was shocked: "You can bribe a god with money?"

Zhang Pianpian: "How is that possible?"

Just as Zhang Yu was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Zhang Pianpian continued, "Money only makes it *possible* to bribe a god. It specifically depends on how much you spend and how you spend it. That relates to your proficiency in charms."

Zhang Yu: "But... that's a god!"

"In Kunxu, gods do business for money. That is what it means that money can reach the gods," Zhang Pianpian said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Without money, how would the Eight Departments' True Gods operate Kunxu? How would they govern the world?"

Zhang Yu was speechless again, able only to say that his understanding of Kunxu had become even deeper.

Recalling what she had said earlier, Zhang Yu asked, "Didn't you say this assessment tests one's Dao Heart and willpower?"

Zhang Pianpian said indifferently, "Yes, it does. You need enough Dao Heart and enough willpower to hold out until... I find a way in the Spirit Realm to locate the official on duty for your assessment, and then use a charm to transfer the money into his account."

She continued, "Alright, I've brought out your work permit and your Work Talisman Book. Let's meet at your high school entrance."

"Now... it's time to have a talk with the student union of Songyang High School."

Thus, Zhang Yu hurriedly squeezed onto a bus, exhausted. An hour and a half later, he arrived at the school station and saw Zhang Pianpian standing at the intersection from a distance.

She handed Zhang Yu an object that was black and white, resembling a manual.

"This is your Work Talisman Book. You have the authority to use a charm for free once a day, and there are discounts for learning the Inspection Department's charms through this book..."

She pointed to the strange symbols on the book and said, "The markings on the Talisman Book are the Inspection Department's insignia. Show it if you run into trouble."

Zhang Yu held it up cautiously, thinking to himself, *So this is a Talisman Book. Even the cheapest one must cost nearly a hundred thousand, right?*

The Talisman Book was a key to learning talismans, and since talismans were related to high school Daoist technique grades, Zhang Yu had heard of high schoolers who had even mortgaged their organs just to buy one.

*They actually just give this out upon entry? The Inspection Department is truly wealthy.*

*If A-Zhen saw this, wouldn't she kneel down and call me 'Father'? Begging me to let her play with it?*