From Celestial Official to Great Celestial Venerable

Chapter 105 Focusing on the Project
In the solemn and quiet courtroom, Qin Chuan, dressed in a scarlet Taoist robe with black background, took out the jade box.

Everyone focused their attention on the scene that appeared on the Manifestation Mirror hanging high behind Zhao Famo, whose expression had changed drastically.

That was clearly a mental projection that manifested after Zhao Famo's state of mind was lost.

The scene resembles a volcano, filled with lava, and contains what appears to be a giant alchemy furnace. Before the furnace, a young Taoist priest in a white robe sits cross-legged. Not far from the young Taoist priest is none other than Zhao Famo…

Besides Zhao Famo, there was also a vague human figure standing there with his hands behind his back, but it was not very clear.

Sudden.

A burst of fire and golden light shot out from the alchemy furnace.

It was as if liquid gold was boiling.

Rumbling and booming.

The screen was shaking, as if the mysterious cave, resembling a volcano, was struggling to withstand the terrifying energy emanating from the alchemy furnace.

Immediately, the white-robed Taoist priest sitting cross-legged in front of the alchemy furnace took action. The moment he opened his eyes, a faint flash of lightning appeared, and his hands quickly formed hand seals, like butterflies flitting among flowers, with countless mysteries of the laws flowing within them. Then, a huge hand seal was formed and imprinted on the alchemy furnace.

boom!
In an instant, the alchemy furnace opened wide, and more than a dozen golden meteor-like objects escaped from it. Just from the spiritual energy fluctuations emitted by those meteors as they streaked through the air, it was clear that each of those dozen golden meteors contained enormous energy.

At that moment, whether it was the white-robed Taoist, Zhao Famo, or the mysterious humanoid figure, they all made rapid moves, each rushing towards three or five shooting stars.

Although these golden meteors were incredibly fast at the moment of their explosion, the three of them were even faster. In the blink of an eye, they retrieved all the meteors and arranged them into fifteen jade-colored pill boxes.

And that pill box was one of the items Qin Chuan was holding in his hand at the moment.

"Zhao Famo, so you were secretly colluding with others to refine unknown pills!"

At this moment, the matter is clear.

The production and refining of elixirs in the Eastern Victory Heavenly Court all require ordination certificates and documents; private refining is absolutely forbidden. However, judging from the elixirs displayed in this mental mirror, they are clearly not of ordinary grade; they may even have reached the Temple-level Golden Core realm.

"Confess now! Who are the two people in this scene besides you? What kind of pills are you refining? Did you spend all one million spirit coins on this?" the juror demanded sternly.

However, looking back, he saw that his true heart, locked beneath a layer of mental lock, had been opened by Qin Chuan, a young spiritual official, who found the right 'key,' revealing a corner of the truth.

Zhao Famo was instantly disoriented, then a fierce determination flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly tilted his head back and fell to the ground.

Qin Chuan's expression changed:
"Somebody come!"

The Immortal Inspection Bureau had thirteen departments operating in an orderly manner. Someone immediately came to check on Zhao Famo's situation and quickly replied, "Officer, this person is fine; he has simply fainted."

Qin Chuan sneered.

Pretending to faint at this point was indeed the only thing he could do.

Unless torture is used, there is no way to wake up someone who is pretending to be asleep.

It seems that Zhao Famo was also aware that the contents of his mind had been revealed, and if they were to be dug deeper, the truth would probably be revealed directly, so he chose to faint.

This also means...

Zhao Famo truly understood the gravity of the divine law he had violated.

He could bear any charge of embezzlement, bribery, and misappropriation of Heavenly Court assets, but he dared not utter a single word about this truth. Either the vested interests behind it were enormous, or… this crime was far more serious than the others combined. Embezzlement and bribery rarely carry the death penalty; only extremely serious cases involving enormous sums are considered.

However, in the Eastern Heavenly Court, there was actually another form of punishment for Taoists that was even more terrifying than the death penalty.

That means that for those who are truly heinous criminals, such as those who betray the Heavenly Court and endanger the Divine Continent, the death penalty is not enough; after death, their souls will be banished to the Netherworld, never to be reincarnated.

“Spiritual Officer, although he has only fainted, due to the restrictions of the Heavenly Laws, we cannot force an interrogation. Otherwise, it would be against the rules for us, and we would face criticism internally. You would also be more likely to make a mistake,” the physician from the Immortal Inspection Bureau sighed.

"In that case, take him away and keep him in custody until it is appropriate to interrogate him again and bring him out." As an official in charge of investigations, Qin Chuan naturally had to pay the most attention to procedures. He couldn't allow others to find fault with the case. Otherwise, if he were to investigate people with connections, he would be the first one targeted and removed from office.

Everything must conform to the divine law.

After leaving the courtroom.

"Official, who exactly is Xie Zhimiao? And how did you find out about him?" the juror asked curiously.

Qin Chuan glanced at him.

The juror asked no further questions.

A while later, Qin Chuan called Wang Mengshi over and asked him to organize the household registration information he had found earlier and the "evidence" that had been examined today. After thinking for a moment, he decided to go to the office of the local official Lu Mingjing.

As the highest-ranking immortal official of the Immortal Investigation Division who had been closely monitoring the case's progress, Lu Mingjing had naturally been informed of the day's findings. Therefore, when Qin Chuan entered, he immediately frowned and asked:

"Qin Chuan, I heard that when you interrogated Zhao Famo, you actually managed to extract the identity of a deputy temple-level immortal from the blessed land?"

Qin Chuan immediately expressed his helplessness, saying, "Lord Earth Official, this was truly unintentional. As you know, following your instructions, I didn't try to get to the county level for this case, so I could only search for useful clues among the mountain of evidence. That's how I found the jade box and discovered a breakthrough—just a name. I asked casually, and who would have thought... that I would find out who is a deputy temple-level immortal from this blessed land?"

Lu Mingjing's face was gloomy and uncertain, but he couldn't say that Qin Chuan had done anything wrong. Indeed, Qin Chuan hadn't dragged the case into the county, but when it came to the level of a blessed land, it was beyond the capacity of a county-level judicial office to handle.

Qin Chuan then asked for further instructions: "So, what should we do next?"

Lu Mingjing was also in a bind. Now was the crucial time for the Eight Caves Inspectors to be stationed in various grotto heavens to guide the work and uncover various problems. How could he, a mere county-level official of the Immortal Inspection Department, dare to let such case clues go unnoticed?
Not only does it bring him no benefit whatsoever, but also...

He looked at the young man in front of him. This boy was clearly a spy planted in his Jianxian Division by County God Sun. He might seize the opportunity to stab him in the back at any time, and Sun Qinghan would take the opportunity to make trouble for him.

After all, he was just still hesitating about which side to take, not that he wanted to completely antagonize the other side.

So, he took a deep breath and said:

"Since it involves a high-ranking immortal at the level of a blessed land, if we want to investigate, according to the Heavenly Laws, we must first request permission from the Blessed Land Immortal Inspection Office. After obtaining permission from the Blessed Land Immortal Inspection Office, we can then request permission from the Blessed Land Jing'an Prefecture. Only under the guidance and supervision of the Jing'an Prefecture can we arrest a high-ranking immortal at the level of a blessed land temple. How about this, I'll report it first and see what the Blessed Land thinks."

Qin Chuan was prepared for this decision.

After all, although the Jianxian Division, where he worked, wielded considerable power within Jiuchuan County, it was not powerful enough to enforce the law across regions or engage in deep-sea fishing, let alone for the county's Jing'an Office to go to the blessed land to arrest a deputy temple-level immortal.
But Qin Chuan had already sensed an opportunity.

If it is indeed agreed, then it will be an investigation team formed for a deputy temple-level immortal. The county-level immortal inspection office may not be high enough in rank or authority, so it is possible that the blessed land will lead the investigation team.

At that time... as the leader of this case, I might be able to join the special investigation team for Fudi.

Who knows, if this case gets bigger and bigger, it might even attract guidance from the Eight Caves Inspectorate.

These are all stages to showcase one's abilities.

(End of this chapter)