From Celestial Official to Great Celestial Venerable

Chapter 90 Appointment Documents
Qin Chuan walked step by step to the outside of the conference hall of Nongling Temple.

Before and after their departure from the heavens, the Agricultural Spirit Special Task Force held numerous regular meetings in this hall. Now, standing outside the familiar hall, Qin Chuan felt a surge of emotion.

He paused outside for two breaths, took a deep breath to calm himself down, and then knocked on the door.

Bang Bang!

After the knocking, a voice immediately came from inside inviting him in. Once inside, he saw two Taoist priests standing by the window, looking towards the field. They then turned to look at the young man outside.

The square-faced middle-aged Taoist smiled warmly: "You must be Fellow Daoist Qin Chuan, come in quickly."

"Two esteemed immortals," Qin Chuan greeted them as he entered.

"Let me introduce myself. I am Yan Zhengxin, the deputy head of the Temple of Immortals in Jiuchuan County. This is Ge Yanyang, the head of the Office of Public Affairs in the temple," said the square-faced Taoist.

Qin Chuan immediately stepped forward and addressed the two Taoist priests respectfully: "Master Yan, Abbot Ge."

"Don't be shy, have a seat." Master Yan smiled and sat cross-legged on the prayer mat with Abbot Ge beside him. He gestured to Qin Chuan and said, "We are here to chat with you casually, in accordance with the rules of the temple and the decree of the county temple."

Qin Chuan sat cross-legged on the futon with a serious expression, his mind focused and knowing that he had to handle this test well, as it would determine his future direction: "Please ask, esteemed immortals."

Master Yan spoke first, smiling, "Fellow Daoist Qin Chuan, your trip to the heavens this time has caused quite a stir. Let's talk about your views on the outer heavens during this trip, so that we can understand your Dao heart."

Qin Chuan nodded upon hearing this, pretending to organize his thoughts, and after a couple of breaths, said, "Replying to the two immortals, this trip out of the heavens has greatly affected me. First of all, needless to say, there was the crisis on the Creation Ship, where I almost lost my life, and it also allowed me to witness the terrifying and destructive power of the Mythical Organization, a rogue demonic organization. The second impactful thing was what I saw and heard in the Perfect World beyond the heavens. I was shocked to see various sword-wielding individuals committing murder in broad daylight on the streets of Perfect World. This was different from everything I had ever seen in the heavens before, and it greatly affected me."

The two Taoist priests who had ascended to the Immortal Platform secretly looked at their Heavenly Register Divine Power, the "Mirror of Inquiry," and nodded silently. They had not lied, which showed that the young Taoist's heart was not biased and that his heart had not been disturbed by his journey to Heaven.

Then, it was Abbot Ge's turn to ask, "What is your opinion on the current state of the Heavenly Court?"

Qin Chuan immediately perked up and said, "Let's take the Perfect World as an example. Although it is full of all kinds of tyranny and robbery, the spiritual energy of the Perfect World is indeed the best in all the heavens. This is how it developed. The development of spiritual energy in our world is what the Great Dao needs. I once answered a similar question in the defense of the Xuanji True Person of Xiaoxiang Cave Heaven: 'Daoist arts are the primary productive force.' To develop Daoist arts, we must develop spiritual energy. The two complement each other and are indispensable."

"Is Taoist arts the primary productive force?" The two immortals pondered for a moment, and then said, "That's a profound statement. I didn't expect you, my young fellow Taoist, to have such a high level of understanding of doctrines and ideas. Not bad, what you said is very insightful."

Qin Chuan felt relieved; he had passed the test of his Dao heart.

The two immortals changed the subject, asking, "We saw you working in the observation field from the window just now, so let's talk about your work again. What progress, difficulties, and achievements have you made in your work recently? If you have any requests, please feel free to tell us."

"Reporting to the two immortals, the agricultural and spiritual economic work I've been involved in has made great progress. The cultivation plan for the Liuxiang orange, spearheaded by the County God, has now completely overcome the difficulties in cultivation and fruiting. Just now, before the two immortals arrived, our special task force successfully tested a spiritual orange tree belonging to our Jiuchuan. In the near future, we can try to promote its cultivation as a true economic crop." Qin Chuan timely reported his great contribution to the two immortals.

The two immortals who had ascended to the Immortal Platform were genuinely surprised upon hearing this. Asking about the progress of their work was just a routine and conventional question. In most cases, the answer they received was that they were stuck on some difficult point and had made few breakthroughs.

Unexpectedly, Qin Chuan made significant progress.

The two exchanged a silent glance, their understanding unspoken.

It seems that after this assessment, the evaluation of this young fellow Daoist's abilities will be even higher.

After exchanging glances, the two smiled knowingly, and then said to Qin Chuan:

"It seems we came to the right place today. We've just arrived just in time to congratulate your special task force on its tremendous contributions. The people of Jiuchuan are truly blessed."

Qin Chuan quickly responded modestly.

Next, the conversation turned to personal matters. When asked if he had any difficulties in his life, Qin Chuan answered truthfully: "I don't have any difficulties in other aspects, but there are some awkward issues with my accommodation for spiritual practice. I am currently staying in someone else's courtyard, so I am waiting for a spot in the temple's spiritual housing area."

Master Yan nodded, indicating that Abbot Ge should write down Fellow Daoist Qin Chuan's needs and find a way to resolve them later.

It's truly unacceptable that one of the county's top ten outstanding Taoist priests, a model figure even commended by the Heavenly Court, still doesn't have his own cave dwelling.

Finally, it's time for the main event.

"Fellow Daoist Qin Chuan, after talking for so long, we feel that you do indeed have outstanding personal abilities. Now, continuing to stay in Nongling Temple and the special class is somewhat burying your abilities. As the Zhuoxiantai, our job is to put the right people in the right positions so that they can better serve the Heavenly Dao and the people."

Master Yan said:
"Next, let's talk about your specific expectations for your future position, and we'll discuss your career planning together."

Having waited so long for the main event, Qin Chuan had already prepared his speech and confidently said, "In front of you two immortals, I'll speak boldly. I believe I am capable of undertaking some work related to investigation and inspection, or, if I were to be sent down to a local area, I am confident I could do a good job of serving the local people." Upon hearing this, the two men's hearts stirred, realizing that Qin Chuan had received guidance and instructions from someone, and that what he said was all about the current vacancies.

But the formalities still had to be followed, so Master Yan said:

"It sounds like you're more inclined towards inspection and review. We've looked at your resume; you've always studied agricultural and spiritual practices. How can you be confident in doing a good job in inspection and review? And why do you have this idea?"

Qin Chuan immediately said, "To be honest, I have had a third uncle who works at the Jing'an Bureau since I was a child. He is a role model that I admire, so I have always dreamed of being an inspector. However, I was a bit unbalanced in the Dao Examination, so I had to enter the Agricultural Spirit. During this trip to the Heavenly Realm, I discovered that the Mythical Organization was actually able to appear in our Heavenly Realm and massacre many people on the Creation Ship. This has shaken my Dao heart. Not long ago, I happened to see the Heavenly Court's order to patrol and exorcise demons. I was encouraged and want to participate in this related work and contribute my share."

Choosing the Immortal Examination Division and the Immortal Inspection Division as his future cultivation path was a decision Qin Chuan made after careful consideration over the past three days.

It's not just because this celestial office is a perfect match for his Heavenly Essence Furnace, allowing him to unleash his full potential within it and never worry about making merits. Making merits means a much faster promotion.

After all, there has always been an unspoken rule in cultivation circles: if one has been a cultivator for sixty years without forming a golden elixir, one will never be able to ascend to the heavenly palace in this lifetime.

His goals have always been very ambitious.

Within sixty years of entering the Dao, one must form the elixir and reach the level of a county temple.

Sun Qinghan is a prime example; he achieved the Core Formation at the age of twenty-eight, and his future is promising.

Whether he was sent to a rural area to serve as a village elder or to serve as a scribe for Sun Qinghan, he needed to accumulate seniority year by year.

The position of chief secretary basically requires working alongside someone for more than ten years before getting the opportunity to go out and gain experience.

There are also rules in local temples and shrines; one can only be promoted after serving for thirty years.

This takes too much time.

He came from humble beginnings, unlike the scions of prominent families who could start their careers in county temples once they entered the Daoist path. He had to find ways to overtake others by taking shortcuts when opportunities arose.

The Bureau of Investigation and Judgment of Immortals is one of the departments that values ​​individual ability the most, and it has great power. As long as you have the ability to solve cases, you can quickly make merits and accumulate experience.

the most important is……

This point in time was a major campaign launched by the Heavenly Court to eliminate demons and traitors.

The reason he was able to seize this opportunity to leave the heavens within Nongling Temple was because he grasped the Nongling economic plan proposed by Sun Qinghan under the Heavenly Court's Great Dao, thus being able to seize the mainstream trend and take off with the wind.

In any era and in any world, finding the direction of the times, the general trend, and some mainstream directions is better than a billion useless efforts.

In addition, he vaguely felt that this was also the result Sun Qinghan most hoped for.

If he could join the Jianxian Division, he would have the power to investigate all officials, just like the ancient censors... Don't forget, Sun Qinghan has only been in office in Jiuchuan for a year now, and she has no foundation of her own. She is still just a deputy county magistrate. If she wants to cultivate her own faction, she has to get rid of a group of people who are not on good terms with her before she can promote her confidants.

Of course, this is just Qin Chuan's own guess and imagination.

After chatting with the fellow Daoists at Zhuosentai, that's how it ended.

The two immortals rose and slowly said:
"Fellow Daoist Qin Chuan, it was a very pleasant chat with you. We look forward to your future work achievements."

Qin Chuan saw the two immortals off, escorted them to the outside of Nongling Temple, and watched them board the flying boat and leave.

Meanwhile, the Taoist priest of Nongling Temple and the newly arrived abbot and deputy abbot, who witnessed the entire process of Qin Chuan and Zhuoxiantai's comings and goings, looked at the young Taoist priest standing at the temple gate.

Yao Qianshan, the newly appointed head of the Nongling Temple, who had worked his way up to the position of head of the Nongdao Academy after half a lifetime, is now finally sitting in the position of head of the temple. However, he is already 130 years old and will have to retire in another 20 years. His life will end with this position as head of the temple.

Looking at the young Taoist priest under the sun, full of vigor and ambition, at the age of nineteen, he was far too young.

It only takes three days.

The ceremony for Qin Chuan to be conferred the eighth-rank official title and the document for his appointment were issued simultaneously at Nongling Temple.

(End of this chapter)