From Celestial Official to Great Celestial Venerable

Chapter 98 Weather Forecast
In Zhao Famo's study at Chilu Mountain, Qin Chuan accompanied the Taoists from Jing'an and Youyi Temple on their mission, casually reviewing many important pieces of evidence.

When he was almost finished cleaning up, he finally calculated the total.

All the things within the Thunder Control Sect that relate to Zhao Famo and can be used as evidence contain a total of ten thousand units of Dharma essence.

It's astonishing that a Daoist in the Foundation Establishment stage could possess so much Dharma essence.

It is clear that Jing'an's investigation of this person was not false. The evidence against Zhao Famo contained many things with profound legal implications, mostly valuable antiques, paintings, and ritual objects that he had accepted as bribes.

Converted to the value of spiritual energy, it would be worth at least a million, which in this era would be considered the mark of a massive embezzler.

But Qin Chuan felt that perhaps this was not all there was to it.

Among these pieces of evidence, what caught Qin Chuan's attention the most was actually an inconspicuous little thumb ring, a storage magic artifact containing many small items that Zhao Famo usually liked to use.

Zhao Famo disliked gambling and whoring, but he loved to eat and drink, so this storage ring contained many elixirs and spirit wines.

But what caught Qin Chuan's attention even more was the description of this thumb ring by the Heavenly Essence Furnace.

[Item: Storage Ring]

Originally an ordinary storage ring, it was made by the Lingxu Sect in the blessed land of Mount Lu. Its first owner was the Golden Core cultivator Dugu Jue. After wearing it for ten years, it was imbued with Dharma nature and contained a scroll of the "Heartless Dao Book". Later, it fell into the hands of the second owner, Zhao Famo. After being nurtured by him for sixty years, it was imbued with Dharma nature and contained the "Thunder Pool Qi Refining Method". Both can be refined, or they can be recycled into 500 Dharma essence.

Leaving aside the fact that this small thumb ring contains magical essence worth five hundred, just consider the description...

Dugu Jue.

Isn't this the third-in-command in the county temple, the deputy county god in charge of Taoist sects and immortal affairs?

Then, recalling Zhao Famo's subconscious angry shout after his fight with Yuan Qingbai, mentioning that he was targeting...

Qin Chuan seemed to be deep in thought.

He immediately etched the existence of this little thumb ring into his heart.

He couldn't possibly extract ten thousand Dharma essences in a single day. Fortunately, all the evidence would eventually end up in the Youyi Temple. As the Youyi Spirit Officer and the leader in charge of this case, he could retrieve the evidences at any time. It was only a matter of time before he extracted all the Dharma essences within the next few days.

The two officials were busy until evening and still hadn't finished. There was too much evidence, and they needed to come back for a second round of investigation.

Therefore, the site was sealed off first, and I am off duty today.

Qin Chuan returned to Youyi Temple, about to report his work of the day to Xiao Shi'an.

After hearing this, Xiao Shi'an slowly said, "Let's go to Lord Earth's place together. Lord Earth heard about this matter and sent a special message saying that he wants to hear your report when you return."

Lord local official.

The head of the Inspection and Concealment Bureau.

They actually took this case to heart.

Qin Chuan became even more certain of his conjectures.

Before long, the two arrived at a classical pavilion, went straight up to the seventh floor, knocked on the door, and waited for a gentle and refined old man's voice to come from inside before they entered.

The pardoning official, Lu Mingjing, was an old man with a white beard, wearing a black Taoist robe. He looked somewhat youthful despite his white hair, and was very healthy.

"Lord Earth Official." The two men greeted him as they approached the prayer mat.

"Please sit down." Lu Mingjing looked at the two people sitting in front of him, then looked at Qin Chuan and said, "Qin Chuan, you're so young to be a wandering spirit officer in our Immortal Inspection Division. I thought you needed to learn slowly, but I didn't expect to see your skills today. Even Yuan Qingbai of the Jing'an Bureau couldn't handle you, but you were easily taken down by one of our wandering spirit officers. You've made our Immortal Inspection Division proud."

Hearing the praise in the other person's tone, Qin Chuan responded modestly for a few moments, and then began to give his work report.

After listening, the old Taoist priest pondered for a moment and said, "Such a large amount of money, such an important position, and such a big problem have arisen. Our Inspection Bureau must investigate to the end. But as to how to investigate, I suggest that neither of you act rashly. Let's talk about this after I return from the meeting at the county temple."

Qin Chuan keenly observed the high-ranking leader's non-stick pan technique and immediately stated, "I'll follow the department's instructions."

……

For the next two days, Qin Chuan did not participate in the interrogation without Lu Mingjing's authorization.

However, this gave him even more reason to first go and organize the various pieces of evidence brought back from the Thunder Control Sect with his fellow practitioners in the temple.

Three days later.

Qin Chuan was constantly surrounded by various pleasant sounds.

[700 points of Dharma Essence have been recycled]

……

[900 points of Dharma Essence have been recycled]

……

[One copy of the Thunder Refining Treasure Technique cultivation has been extracted]

The Thunder Refining Technique was a method extracted from the Purple Lightning Immortal Sword that Zhao Famo had privately forged. It was a method for refining magical artifacts using the divine power of thunder, and was worth a full thousand magic essences. Qin Chuan thought that he happened to have a piece of seven-colored immortal copper, which could be used to refine a magical artifact for himself, so he extracted this method.

Besides.

Qin Chuan also extracted another copy of the "Beast Raising Manual," which was a novel and unique method for raising Kui beasts. He had to extract it for future use.

The rest was a Foundation Establishment stage Tianzong Daoist. His thunderous Dao techniques were actually quite weak, and he didn't even bother with them because they could be suppressed by Qin Chuan's sword energy. So he turned them all back into Dharma essence.

Ten days of effort.

Although he has not yet reached the Foundation Establishment stage, he possesses the combat power of one. When he refines and reforges the essence, it is more than dozens of times greater than his previous Qi Refining stage essence. In just ten days, he has refined eight thousand essences.

He finished his shift that night and was about to go home when He Xingchen was waiting for him at the door, saying:

"Brother Qin, there's a small gathering for chanting scriptures tonight. Fellow Daoist Chu Yunce said that you absolutely must attend today."

Qin Chuan was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

It's been at least half a year since I last attended this chanting gathering, of course, because he went on a pilgrimage in the middle of it and couldn't participate.

"Any topics for discussion at our get-together tonight?" Qin Chuan asked.

"We don't know yet," He Xingchen said with a smile. "But they said that others might not be able to get it, but you, the hottest person in Jiuchuan recently, absolutely must get it."

A thought flashed through Qin Chuan's mind. Connecting it to his recent work, he realized there were some things he wanted to find out from Chu Yunce, the clerk at the county temple.

evening.

The familiar Chunlai Teahouse, in Tingyuxuan.

When Qin Chuan and his companion entered, they discovered that Ji Yuqi and Chu Yunze, who usually arrived a little late, had actually come early this time.

After seeing Qin Chuan arrive.

Lin Xiaoheng, whose spiritual plants had been treated by Qin Chuan and aided his Foundation Establishment, immediately stepped forward to greet him, his face beaming with smiles, and said:

"Fellow Daoist Qin Chuan, this is truly incredible. We were just talking about you a moment ago."

Previously, Lin Xiaoheng was the deputy director, but now that Qin Chuan has also been promoted, he no longer needs to treat Lin Xiaoheng as a subordinate and can now be treated as an equal. So he smiled and asked:
"Oh? Brother Lin, what are you all talking about?"

"Hahaha, what else is there to talk about?"

Chu Yunce, sitting in the main seat, let out a hearty laugh and said:
"Of course, we're talking about Fellow Daoist Qin Chuan's various performances recently. Let's not even talk about his trip to the heavens, but just about the case of the Thunder Control Sect a while ago. It's already spread that a young man from the Immortal Inspection Division has arrived. He's very capable and extremely handsome."

Qin Chuan noticed that the scribe had silently changed how he addressed him, no longer calling him "Little Qin" but "Fellow Daoist Qin." Qin Chuan couldn't help but sense the changes that came with his increased strength and status.

He immediately realized that it was his current age and position that made Chu Yunce no longer able to treat him as a young man.

After all, the Jianxian Division is now a powerful weapon in the current climate, and no one can underestimate it.

"Haha, Secretary Chu, you're exaggerating. The claim that he's exceptionally good at fighting is just nonsense." Qin Chuan stepped forward with a laugh and said, "However, I can still admit that he's extremely handsome."

"Hahahaha!"

Laughter immediately filled the private room, a common occurrence in social interactions; to not laugh at such a moment would be considered impolite.

"I never expected Fellow Daoist Qin Chuan to have such a humorous side."

Chu Yunze said to the person to his right:

"Don't stand, sit down."

Qin Chuan looked at the seats. Ji Yuqi was on his left, and Lin Xiaoheng had been sitting there before. Now it was his turn.

He didn't refuse and sat down, but thought to himself:

"I don't know. If I were to actually agree to be Sun Qinghan's chief secretary, would I be able to sit in the main seat today?"

He quickly suppressed his thoughts.

Looking at Ji Yuqi across from him, he smiled and greeted her:
"Abbot Ji, how's the work at Nongling Temple going lately?"

"After you left, the rural research is proceeding in an orderly manner," Ji Yuqi said with a smile. "Don't worry, market research is my forte."

"If you encounter any difficulties, just bring them up, and we'll all work together to find a solution," Chu Yunce said.

Ji Yuqi shook her head: "Not yet."

"Alright, then let's not talk about anything else today."

Chu Yunce said:
"The reason I called everyone here today is to tell you about the atmosphere at the county temple recently. It's not a good sign. There have been several times when the atmosphere at the temple has been tense. The weather in Jiuchuan may be cloudy in the near future, and it might even rain."

(End of this chapter)