From Celestial Official to Great Celestial Venerable

Chapter 50 Aquarius
After the yellow-robed Taoist finished speaking, he flicked his sleeve and lightly tossed a warm, smooth jade slip towards Qin Chuan.

"This is my unique cultivation method, the 'Earth Emperor's Mountain Collapse Cannon,' which you should study carefully. From today onwards, you will follow Yue Chen into the pit to help clean up that clean bottle artifact. If you have any questions about cultivation, ask Yue Chen first. He has already cultivated this technique to the sixth level. If even he cannot answer your questions, then it is not too late to ask me."

Shi Hu said calmly, "Once you have mastered the first level of this mental cultivation technique, you may leave on your own."

"This junior will remember it well, and I thank you for bestowing this teaching upon me, senior!"

Qin Chuan respectfully accepted the jade slip with both hands, feeling the cool magical energy fluctuations emanating from it. His heart was filled with excitement, and he solemnly put it into his pocket.

"Junior Brother Qin, please follow me." Yue Chen smiled warmly and stepped aside to lead the way.

Qin Chuan nodded and followed closely behind.

Watching the two figures gradually disappear into the distance at the tunnel entrance, Master Shi Hu crossed his arms, glanced sideways at his old friend Huo Yuanjue, and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips:

"Hmph, I'd like to see how long it will take your precious disciple to even begin to grasp the basics of my 'Earth Emperor Mountain-Crushing Cannon'!"

Huo Yuanjue smiled but remained silent, his eyes filled with trust and expectation for his disciple.

On the other side, Yue Chen had led Qin Chuan to the edge of a huge burial pit numbered "thirty-eight".

He took out a small, exquisite shovel, no more than a foot long, and a small, elegant whisk with a gleaming silver tip and an antique-looking handle from a seemingly ordinary yellow cloth bag he carried with him.

“Junior Brother Qin, these are the basic tools for us archaeologists.” Yue Chen handed over the two items and patiently explained, “This shovel is called ‘Soil Scraper’, which is used to process ‘burial soil’; this whisk is called ‘Dust Removal’, which is used to clean the surface of cultural relics of any remaining restrictions and filth.”

He explained in detail:

"The so-called burial soil is formed when a cultivator passes away, and their spiritual energy dissipates back into the world, intertwining with the death energy and yin energy accumulated in the tomb, eroding ordinary soil over the years. Its texture is as hard as iron and stone, difficult to damage with ordinary knives and axes, and often contains ominous signs. This 'soil scraper' is engraved with special spiritual patterns, which can easily cut through these stubborn coverings without damaging the artifacts below in the slightest."

"As for 'removing the forbidden dust'..."

Yue Chen gently stroked the silvery dust:

“In ancient tombs, the burial objects were mostly cherished items or important ritual implements. The owners would often set up many restrictions to prevent theft and disturbance. Although the passage of time has reduced most of these restrictions to less than one-tenth of their original power, the remaining power should not be underestimated, and they are also entangled with years of accumulated evil energy. This dust can effectively remove these obstacles and ensure the safe excavation of cultural relics.”

Qin Chuan listened attentively while carefully taking the two tools. The moment he held them, a thought struck him; the Heavenly Essence Furnace within his body once again emitted a familiar sensation!
【Item: Soil scraper】

This is a tool used by archaeologists, imbued with the spiritual runes of "Soil Identification," capable of effectively cutting and identifying various types of altered soil (such as burial soil and sealing soil). Used by generations of cultivators, it has acquired the inherent properties of the profession. It can be refined into the skill "Soil Identification (Basic)," or recycled into 10 points of magical essence.

[Item: Remove Dust]

[A tool specifically for archaeologists. The dust particles are made from a mixture of "Restriction-Breaking Silver" and "Evil-Cleansing Wood," capable of removing faint remnants of restrictions and common evil energy filth. Used by generations of cultivators, it has acquired the culprit's inherent properties. It can be refined into the skill: Removing Restrictions (Basic), or recycled to enhance its magical essence by 20 points.]

"really!"

Qin Chuan was secretly delighted.

"These professional tools also contain profound knowledge and skills! It seems that I have a deep connection with the field of archaeology."

Without hesitation, with a slight thought, he chose to immediately refine two skills.

As his cultivation level increased to the fifth level of Qi Refining, the refining speed also increased significantly. The Heavenly Essence Furnace showed that it would only take a little over a quarter of an hour to complete the process.

Seeing Qin Chuan hold the forbidden dust in his hand, and after a moment's adjustment, the countless wisps of dust seemed to move with extraordinary agility, gently fluttering about. Yue Chen couldn't help but admire it:

"Junior Brother Qin is indeed exceptionally gifted! To be able to control this dust so precisely and skillfully on your first try is a testament to your superior control, surpassing many apprentices who have honed their skills here for two or three years. It seems that Master's decision to send you here to assist him was indeed wise. With your abilities, I feel even more at ease letting you handle the artifacts below."

"The artifacts... are they at the bottom of this pit?" Qin Chuan suppressed his curiosity and excitement.

“Indeed, junior brother, come with me.”

Yue Chen nodded and took the lead in walking down the simple earthen steps carved into the pit wall.

Qin Chuan followed closely behind. The steep, winding steps descended for about twenty feet before the view suddenly opened up. The space at the bottom of the pit was quite large, with a huge, bright pearl hanging in the center, emitting a soft yet bright light that illuminated the entire pit as if it were daytime.

In the soil layer at the center of the pit, a huge golden bottle-shaped object was found half-buried!

Currently, only the neck and mouth of the bottle are visible. Most of the bottle body is still tightly wrapped in a grayish-white, stone-like but not soil-like solidified substance, which is presumably the burial soil formed by the death aura of the cultivator after his passing.

Judging from the parts that have been exposed so far, if this bottle were to be fully unearthed, it would likely be over two meters tall!
"What an enormous golden bottle!" Qin Chuan couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice.

Yue Chen walked to the bottle, his expression solemn, and said:

"Junior Brother Qin, you may not know this, but this is a characteristic of artifacts from the Great Zhou Heavenly Court period—they are enormous."

The Great Zhou Dynasty inherited the lineage of the ancient 'Heavenly Court of Gods', and the whole world held a deep belief in the ancient gods and the mysterious Heavenly Dao, with various sacrificial activities being frequent.

The ruler of the Heavenly Court is not called "Heavenly Venerable," but rather "Son of Heaven," meaning "Son of Heaven."

Therefore, most of the artifacts made during the Zhou Dynasty, especially those produced by the government, were ritual objects used for worshipping heaven and earth and offering sacrifices to ancient gods.

The artifact before us, according to preliminary identification by our archaeological masters at Lushan Fudi, should be a ritual vessel used for worshipping Heaven and gods in a county temple during the reign of the Zhou Dynasty's 64th emperor, the "Unfinished Emperor," and is named "Panlong Golden Vase."

"Will the Great Zhou Dynasty replace Emperor Weiji...?"

Qin Chuan listened intently, quickly recalling what was written in the Taoist textbook.

The Great Zhou Heavenly Court existed for approximately 80,000 years, and its early history is full of mythological elements.

According to Taoist historical records, the first "Qian Emperor" received a dream from the ancient god "Phoenix" who said, "The ancient god is dead, and the emperor shall be established." He then established the Heavenly Court in accordance with the celestial omen in the dream.

However, whether it is true or not is difficult to verify due to the long passage of time and the lack of historical records. Later generations mostly regard the early history as myths and legends.

The significance of Dongsheng archaeology today lies in dispelling these mythical mysteries and exploring the true face of history.

"Our mission..."

Yue Chen pointed to the grayish-white solidified substance covering the golden bottle:

"It involves using the tools at hand to carefully remove these hardened 'burial soil crusts' and brush away any remaining restrictions and accumulated bad luck and evil spirits from the bottle, so that this ancient artifact can see the light of day again."

He then briefly introduced Qin Chuan to the other three Taoists who were engrossed in their work at the bottom of the pit.

After giving his instructions, Yue Chen signaled to Qin Chuan that they could begin their work.

Qin Chuan took a deep breath, walked to the huge golden bottle and squatted down. With reverence for the ancient artifact in his heart, he held the scraper blade firmly in his left hand and gently grasped the dust remover in his right hand.

He first carefully observed the texture and quality of the burial soil near the mouth of the bottle for a moment, and then cautiously used the tip of the soil scraper to tentatively scrape a thinner grayish-white crust.

At the same time, his right hand seemingly casually brushed away the dust, the dust threads barely touching the area he had just brushed, but in reality he was sensing and cleaning up any possible traces of the restriction and evil energy.

His left hand fingers inadvertently touched the cool and antique golden bottle.

This is a genuine ritual object from ten thousand years ago, used to worship the heavens!
Could there be some unknown secrets hidden within?
Perhaps the Heavenly Essence Furnace can give him the answer?
Qin Chuan's heart began to beat faster.

The answer was revealed the instant the finger touched it:

【Item: Panlong Golden Purification Bottle】

[A ritual artifact from the Zhou Dynasty's Heavenly Court County Temple, dating back ten thousand years, was used to worship the Golden God Ru Shou, one of the twelve ancient gods of the Heavenly Court. Immersed in the temple's sacred nature, it contains the essence of the Golden God and has formed its own 'Golden Treasure Vase Seal Method,' which can be refined or melted down into 500 Dharma Essences.]

(End of this chapter)