From Celestial Official to Great Celestial Venerable

Chapter 48 History
After the meeting, Huo Yuanjue took Qin Chuan and left Nongling Temple.

During the midday break, Huo Yuanjue said, "Bring me those ten five-colored spirit grain seeds so I can take a look."

Qin Chuan did as instructed, taking out the seeds wrapped in a clean cloth from his sleeve and placing them in his palm. The grains were crystal clear, like colorful gemstones.

Huo Yuanjue took the seed, examined it briefly, and a five-colored spiritual light appeared in his palm—not the true energy of the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Technique, but the flowing, harmonious, and ever-renewing spiritual power of the five elements, far superior in quality to the foundation-building technique that Qin Chuan cultivated.

"Teacher, have you found anything?" Qin Chuan asked.

"Master Xuanji truly lives up to his reputation," Huo Yuanjue exclaimed. "This is not a naturally occurring spiritual seed, but rather a hybrid of the five elements of grains. If it can be successfully cultivated, it can serve as daily spiritual food for Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators, making it exceptionally valuable."

"Does the teacher think there are any key points to planting?" Qin Chuan immediately asked.

"The key lies in the balance of the five elements. This test is extremely harsh on those who have not yet established their foundation. Only those who have reached the foundation stage can fully master it," Huo Yuanjue pondered. "Among your fellow test takers, none of them possess the true qi of the five elements. Most specialize in one. For example, Miao Yusheng, although he has cultivated the Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique to the ninth level, is destined to follow the path of the Gui Water Dao Foundation. They need to use external objects to supplement the five elements, and ultimately they are not as naturally endowed as those who possess the five qi."

Qin Chuan immediately understood: "Teacher, you mean that if I can cultivate the Five Elements True Qi, I will gain the upper hand?"

“Exactly. I was originally going to take you to see that old fellow Shi Hu, but I didn’t expect it to kill two birds with one stone for you.” Huo Yuanjue stepped onto the flying boat with a smile.

Qin Chuan then boarded the boat.

The flying boat suddenly took off, broke through the clouds, and flew straight towards the outskirts of Jiuchuan City.

In the short time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the flying boat had already covered a hundred miles.

Qin Chuan secretly estimated and was surprised: "Teacher, this flying boat is so fast! I have ridden in the flying boat of a certain herb garden owner before, and the speed was far from this."

Upon hearing this, Huo Yuanjue knew that Qin Chuan had been asked to treat spiritual medicines after he had cultivated the Yi Wood True Qi—this was a common occurrence, and he had done the same thing back then.

He simply smiled and answered the question: "Firstly, it's because I'm in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, and secondly, it's because I'm relying on the spiritual path array patterns set up in the air."

"A spiritual path?" Reminded of this, Qin Chuan looked back and, sure enough, saw faint, shimmering spiritual runes in the air beneath the flying boat's trajectory. "This spiritual path is..."

"The so-called Spiritual Path is the 'Spiritual Path' that some prosperous realms in the heavens are vigorously promoting now."

Huo Yuanjue took this opportunity to explain to him, "It is to lay out array patterns and spiritual veins in the void. Whether cultivators use artifacts or fly on their own, as long as they follow this path, they can greatly save mana and time, and their speed can be increased by dozens of times."

Seeing that Qin Chuan was listening intently, he continued:
"Without the Spiritual Path, even ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators who can fly through the air would find it extremely difficult to cross the barriers between blessed lands and grotto-heavens. The heavens are blocked by fierce winds, the earth is full of treacherous mountains and narrow passes, and the grotto-heavens are even more complex in terms of terrain, with demonic beasts lurking. Crossing them alone is like a mortal venturing into a primeval forest, with unpredictable dangers. But with the Spiritual Path and the Heavenly Court's flying boat, it's a completely different story—not only is it faster than flying on its own, but it also ensures safety. This is because the Spiritual Path is engraved with the Heavenly Court's protective array everywhere, making any unexpected dangers negligible."

Qin Chuan nodded in understanding, then suddenly had a thought and said, "In that case, the Spirit Road is indeed the lifeline for the development of the blessed land's prefectures and counties. If Jiuchuan wants to revitalize its agricultural economy and enhance its spiritual energy, building the Spirit Road is indeed an urgent task. I wonder how many Spirit Roads our county has built so far?"

A hint of surprise flashed across Huo Yuanjue's eyes: "It's truly remarkable that you could think of this."

Then he said seriously:
“Indeed, if a place is to prosper, it must first build roads. Unfortunately, Jiuchuan currently only has a few official roads and spiritual roads, and many remote towns and villages have not yet been covered. This is precisely why the county god strongly advocated building a spiritual road for Yunwu Township—only with smooth and unobstructed roads can 'Yunlu Tea' be transported to various blessed lands.”

He looked down at the vast land beneath the clouds and said with emotion, “The territory of our Eastern Victory Realm is boundless. Our Chaisang Grotto alone is tens of millions of miles in circumference. Even a temple master in the Golden Core Realm would need several days to cross east and west. If the spiritual road were opened and we could take advantage of the Heavenly Court’s Sky-Crossing Spiritual Boat, we could reach the neighboring grotto in half a day.”

Qin Chuan thought to himself: It seems that no matter the world, "to get rich, build roads first" is always a golden rule. The highways and cars of his past life, and the flying boats of today, are all grand plans that save manpower and connect regions. He then asked, "How is County God Sun's proposal progressing? Why hasn't it been mentioned in any official documents from the county magistrate?"

Old Master Huo shook his head and sighed: "The cost of building the spiritual road is enormous, far beyond the financial resources of a single county. It requires funding from blessed lands, grotto heavens, and even the Heavenly Court at each level. Even then, the local government still has to bear a significant portion of the cost. This proposal is still under debate in the imperial court, and it is unknown when it will be finalized."

Qin Chuan thought to himself: If County God Sun can truly facilitate the completion of the Spirit Road during his term, it will be a great blessing for the people of Jiuchuan, and a remarkable achievement for her as well. I hope it can be implemented as soon as possible.

That way, I might be able to gain some experience and opportunities by following this powerful figure in the future.

As the master and apprentice talked, the flying boat traveled another four or five hundred miles, and below were endless barren mountains.

Huo Yuanjue maneuvered the flying boat to descend slowly. Qin Chuan was puzzled at first, but then he remembered that his teacher had mentioned that Senior Shi Hu had once served as the Earth Vein Supervisor—in charge of underground spiritual mines, and his post was mostly in remote places, so he understood.

After landing, all that could be seen was an open area in the mountains, with pits crisscrossing like a maze, but no trace of a mine.

Dozens of flying boats docked to the side. Huo Yuanjue landed the spirit boat steadily and said, "We've arrived. Old Shi is inside. I've already sent him a message."

The two disembarked and walked towards the outer perimeter of the site. Qin Chuan suddenly noticed a banner hanging outside the large formation: "Archaeological Site of Tomb No. 3 in Tazigou, Jiuchuan County," and his expression turned strange.
"Teacher, isn't Senior Shi Hu the Celestial Official in charge of Earth Vein Monitoring? What's he doing at this archaeological site?"

Old Huo laughed heartily: "I only said that he was born in the Earth Vein Bureau in his early years, but I didn't say that he is still in that position now. It is very common for cultivators to be transferred or reassigned as their cultivation level and seniority increase. Especially that old fellow's 'Earth Emperor Mountain-Crushing Cannon' is a skill that is sought after in any civil engineering department. Archaeology and mining are essentially the same profession."

Qin Chuan smiled inwardly: So he was a "senior civil engineer".

After verifying their identities, the two stepped into the great formation.

The tunnel was so deep that it seemed bottomless; the burial chambers of cultivators were indeed more secluded and mysterious than those of mortals.

Qin Chuan, whose expertise lay in agriculture and spirits, was naturally clueless about this, and could only think to himself:

I wonder what era this ancient tomb dates back to?
The Eastern Continent of Divine Victory has a glorious history of 100,000 years, having experienced the reigns of the Ancient Gods, the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the Eastern Continent Heavenly Court.

From Yankang, Chiming, Longhan, Kaihuang to the present Haotian, there have been five Great Heavenly Venerables.

The current Heavenly Court calendar is the year 9728 of the Heavenly Venerable Calendar, also known as the 438th year of the Haotian Era.

As time flows on, who knows what secrets lie buried beneath this yellow earth.

While Qin Chuan was thinking about these things, the two walked through many large pits and saw that in many of them, some young Taoists were carefully working, gently brushing away the dust with small whisks.

Then, Old Huo led Qin Chuan to an elderly man in a yellow Taoist robe, leaning on a cane:

"Stone Tiger! I've brought my student to see you! We have only one purpose: to get out your 'Earth Emperor Mountain-Crushing Cannon' and let my student practice on it. I promise I won't treat you unfairly, how about it!"

(End of this chapter)