From Celestial Official to Great Celestial Venerable

Chapter 61 Influence
Outside Guniu Town, the grass and trees in the grove are already turning slightly yellow.

In the Qin family compound, Old Master Qin sat in a grand chair, his cane slamming heavily on the ground with a loud thud, his beard trembling with the rise and fall of his chest.

"It doesn't make sense! It doesn't make sense!"

"Dad, calm down."

Qin Yi, the second son of the Qin family, patted his back. "My eldest brother took Qin Geng to discuss matters with Xiangjiagou. Our Qin family has two families with Taoist origins. We're not without people. I don't believe they would dare to block the dam. Do you think the Xiang family can control everything?"

This year, Jiuchuan has experienced a dry and rainless year, and a large amount of irrigation is needed during the grain filling period. However, the water level in Guniu Town has reached a dangerous level, and villages are vying for water resources.

Although the Qin family lived in the town, they had hundreds of acres of land in the countryside that needed irrigation. However, the Xiangjiagou ditch upstream blocked the small river downstream of the "Lijiachuan" dam, cutting off the water supply to the Qin family's fields.

The Qin family has been passed down for hundreds of years, relying on these lands to support their clansmen and even producing two Taoist priests. They thought they would be treated with respect by the clan, but they never expected to be treated this way.

Xiangjiagou, however, said that the reservoir water level was low this year, and if water was released to the downstream area, half of his land would die of drought, so he could only "sacrifice his fellow Daoists to save himself."

Xiangjiagou dared to do this because it was not a small village; it had several clans, and a Taoist priest worked in the county. More importantly, Xiang Changtian, the deputy abbot of Guniu Temple in Guniu Town, came from Xiangjiagou.

The saying goes, "A local official is more powerful than a distant one."

Even if Xiang Changtian, the deputy abbot, wouldn't openly give instructions to support his own village, how could the village chiefs and abbots in the town dare to risk offending their superiors and go against Xiangjiagou?

Thinking of this, Old Master Qin became even angrier.

It's certainly good to have connections in the government, but it's not like the other side also has connections in the government, and their immortal rank is even higher than that of the two Taoist priests in our family.

He knew in his heart that the Qin family would most likely have to swallow this bitter pill.

Unexpectedly, it happened at this very moment.

A worker rushed into the compound, shouting excitedly:

"Master, master, the sluice gates at Xiangjiagou have been opened! There's water! There's water! The water is flowing down!"

Old Master Qin and Qin Yi both stood up, unable to believe it.

Before long, they quickly left the courtyard and arrived at the small irrigation ditch outside the town. There, they saw muddy water flowing like a yellow dragon, rushing through the ditch and causing the water level to rise rapidly. The water flowed through the ditch and nourished the hundreds of acres of land downstream.

"How could this be..." Old Master Qin was completely baffled.

As he was pondering this, he saw a group of Qin family members walking towards him from the town in the distance, having heard that the floodwaters had been released.

They were all excited:

"How did Brother Qin and Brother Qin Qi persuade those stubborn guys in Xiangjiagou to open the floodgates?"

"Could it be that they are afraid of our Qin family?"

“How could that be? There are several Taoist priests in their village, including Xiang Changtian…”

Are discussing.

Suddenly, the sound of gongs and drums came from the town.

Boom, boom, clang!
Firecrackers were also set off.

Old Master Qin was puzzled and asked the people around him, wondering:
"Whose celebration is it in town today? I haven't heard anything about it."

The others were also puzzled.

A young man suddenly noticed the direction of the sound and exclaimed, "Hey, it sounds like it's heading towards our Qin family ancestral hall!"

what? !

The group of Qin family elders immediately changed color and hurried after them.

After arriving at a place not far from the ancestral hall.

"That's him! That person is..."

Old Master Qin rubbed his eyes in disbelief, looking at the ancestral hall in the distance, which was already filled with gongs, drums, flowers, and a plaque. A middle-aged, square-faced Taoist priest was shaking hands with Qin Fengnian, the Third Master Qin, who was on duty at the ancestral hall that day, and encouraging him with excitement.

This person... isn't he the very same Xiang Youtian, the deputy abbot of Guniu Town, who was the backer of Xiangjiagou whom he had been cursing and muttering about?
What...how did all of this happen?

Just as Old Master Qin was wondering, he saw a flying boat slowly descending from the distant sky.

"Flying boat!" In a village or town, it is extremely rare to see such a grand carriage of an important person.

In the entire town of Guniu, there is only one flying boat in the town temple, and it is only used by the head of the temple when he travels.

The children shouted excitedly when they saw the flying boat.

The adults were even more shocked when they saw the landing airship. Wasn't this the very airship belonging to Cao Rui, the abbot of the town's monastery?

Could it be that the Righteous Master has also arrived?
Thinking like this.

Unexpectedly, as the airship slowly descended, everyone clearly saw the people on board, and they were even more shocked. Sitting on the airship were actually the people sent by the Qin family to argue with Xiangjiagou about releasing water: Qin Ren, the eldest son of Old Master Qin, and... Qin Geng, whose son had just passed away a few months ago, as well as several strong young men from the Qin family.

Most importantly... Qin Geng was actually wearing a large red flower on his chest.

After landing.

Before Old Master Qin could figure out what was going on, he saw Xiang Changtian, the deputy abbot of Guniu Town, with a wide smile and take three steps forward to tightly grasp Qin Geng, who was dazed and about to disembark from the flying boat.

"Fellow villager! You must be Qin Chuan's father!"

Xiang Changtian shook Qin Geng's hands vigorously, his face beaming with excitement, and said:

"You have a fine son! Our town temple just received an official document from the county today. Your son, Qin Chuan, has successfully obtained a spot to accompany a group of Heavenly Scholars and Great Sages of the Academy on a trip to the Perfect World."

Upon hearing this, a commotion erupted outside the Qin Family Ancestral Hall.

Even the entire town, which had been drawn by the arrival of the Abbot of Guniu Town and the flying boat, was in an uproar.

Although Xiang Changtian's words were concise, the information they conveyed was so astonishing that it seemed to shake the very heavens of these rural people.

What? What?
A visit to the UK?

How can these four words be associated with children from small-town families?
These four words are often the kind of words they see when reading some Heavenly Court Gazettes, such as "Emperor So-and-so," "Heavenly Venerable So-and-so," or "Lord So-and-so" going to Heaven to visit other worlds.

Old Master Qin's mind went completely blank.

His face glowed red with incredible excitement, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he asked Qin Geng:
"Seventh Brother, is this true? Is Chuan Yazi really that successful?"

However, Qin Geng was also in a daze at the moment. He and Qin Ren were the main force responsible for negotiating with the other party in Xiangjiagou.

Originally, when they arrived there, the two groups immediately started arguing and were on the verge of fighting.

Unexpectedly, the flying boat in the town descended directly from the sky and ordered Xiangjiagou to open the dam and release water downstream.

Furthermore, the Taoist priest from the town temple, without saying a word, pinned a large red flower on his chest, pulled him onto the flying boat, and even prepared a plaque that read "Home of Heroes." Before long, they returned to this place.

"This must be Old Master Qin."

Upon hearing this, Xiang Changtian immediately put on an official smile, released Qin Geng, whom he considered uncooperative, and instead took the rough hand of Old Master Qin, Qin Youde:
"It's true. Fellow Daoist Qin Chuan outshone everyone at Nongling Temple. He not only defeated several high-ranking Nongling Daoists from Longhu Blessed Land, but even surpassed several talented individuals from the county's Nongdao Academy. As a result, he gained the favor of True Person Xuanji of the Heavenly Court and will be joining the delegation on a trip to the outer heavens!"

Upon hearing this, Old Master Qin's face lit up with excitement.

This, this kind of thing!

Wow! Qin Chuan, you've really brought honor to your family!

Immediately, this nearly ninety-year-old man, with his worldly yet wise old farmer's mindset, quickly analyzed the reasons behind Xiangjiagou's flooding and even the deputy abbot's personal visit to drape Qin Geng with a big red flower.

Even though he was an old farmer who knew nothing about Taoism or Taoist temples, he knew the significance and value of the Taoist mission when he went on the trip to the outer heavens. It meant that after his grandson returned from the outer heavens, he would be the youngest person of his age in Jiuchuan County with the most promising future.

In fact, there isn't one!

So much so that even the deputy abbot of the town temple, whom they secretly cursed, came to congratulate them immediately, even bowing his head to them.

Although it might not be bowing down to Qin Chuan, it's bowing down to this important matter.

But even with his already hunched back, Old Master Qin suddenly straightened up in front of Xiang Changtian and smiled smugly:
"Oh my, our Qin family's son from Sichuan is truly remarkable. We never expected that the problem that had been troubling us old folks for days would be solved so easily by our precious grandson."

The old man spoke with a barbed tongue. He was almost a hundred years old and didn't care about anything. He was already extremely frustrated because of Xiang Changtian, the deputy abbot. Over the past ten years, the Qin family had suffered considerable losses in town because of Xiang Changtian.

Now that the Qin family has finally produced a fine son and grandson, such an opportunity to hold one's head high with a deputy abbot is rare.

Xiang Changtian seemed oblivious to Old Master Qin's mockery. As an old Taoist priest, he didn't take it seriously at all. He was a qualified Taoist priest and of course knew what he should do today.

Ignoring Old Master Qin, he turned to everyone in Guniu Town and said:

"Fellow Daoist Qin Chuan is going to visit the outer heavens with a delegation. This trip will not only be to exchange and learn from the outer heavens, but also to bring back a lot of advanced Daoist techniques from the outer heavens to our Jiuchuan, which will promote the development of our Jiuchuan. Therefore, this is not only a great thing for the Qin family, but also a great thing for our Jiuchuan County and Guniu Town, and even more so for the young heroes of our Guniu Town."

He waved his hand and said:
"For this reason, the Langyin Pavilion in the county, even the Langyin Mansion in the cave, and possibly even the Dongsheng News will broadcast this matter. Qin Chuan will meet the Xuan Guang Mirror. Therefore, I specially applied for a Xuan Guang Mirror for our Guniu Town. Tonight, it will be placed in the square in front of the town temple. Let's go and see the demeanor of our young hero from Guniu Town on the Xuan Guang Mirror!"

"Great!!" everyone in Guniu Town shouted excitedly.

…………

Qin Chuan was unaware that obtaining this precious spot had inadvertently helped people in his hometown solve a major problem.

After being interviewed by He Xingchen, he was stopped by a group of Taoist priests from Lushan Blessed Land. In the end, even Taoist priests from Chaisang Cave Heaven came.

After finally managing to deal with three groups of people.

Unexpectedly, the county temple sent another message.

"Fellow Daoist Qin Chuan, County God Sun Qinghan is looking for you and requests that you come to the county temple."

(End of this chapter)