From Celestial Official to Great Celestial Venerable

Chapter 19 Talisman Pen
Inside the county temple office, Sun Qinghan had just finished an internal meeting, and a serious expression still lingered between his brows.

Jiuchuan County has many long-standing problems, the people are poor, and the officials are negligent in their duties. What is even more troublesome is that even within the county temple, it is difficult to reach a consensus on many important matters—especially the attitude of the official county god, Gu Yuankang.

When Sun Qinghan first arrived in Jiuchuan, she thought that Fellow Daoist Yuankang was supporting her.

He barely hesitated before convening a meeting with several fellow Daoists listed on the longevity tablets in the county temple to discuss her "Spirit Orange Project," and quickly approved the proposal to trial-plant fragrant oranges and other spiritual plants in the county.

With the first task going smoothly, Sun Qinghan wanted to take advantage of the momentum to advance another important task: to build a "spiritual road" in Yunwu Township, which is famous for producing "Yunwu tea".

Yunwu tea has been a signature product of Jiuchuan for thousands of years and is known as the number one spiritual tea of ​​the blessed land of Lushan.

During the reigns of the two great celestial beings, Yan Kang and Chi Ming, although the world was impoverished and the annual production was only a few thousand catties, this tea was still considered a hot commodity and was transported to blessed lands in various places.

Although production is gradually increasing, it is difficult to transport large quantities of goods out of the country due to the treacherous mountain roads and difficult transportation.

Therefore, road construction, especially the construction of "Ling Road", has become the key to the economic development of Jiuchuan.

The so-called Spirit Road is a track built in the void using a spirit array. It can cross mountains and rivers without hindrance. Once completed, the spiritual tea from the deep mountains can be transported out continuously.

However, this time, the proposal did not receive the same support from Fellow Daoist Yuan Kang as it did last time.

The fellow Daoists on the longevity tablet also raised many objections and discussed among themselves, but ultimately failed to reach a consensus.

Ultimately, the cost of repairing the road to Linglu is exorbitant, and the county temple's treasury is empty. The only solution is to attract investment and raise funds.

But Sun Qinghan read unspoken words in the eyes of his colleagues: This newly arrived County God Sun is ambitious and talented, and wants to change the world, but unfortunately he is out of touch with reality, and his thoughts are ultimately castles in the air.

She could only silently remind herself: official business must be done step by step.

Upon returning to the official residence, the clerk Zhao Rong immediately came to report:
"Your Majesty, Nongling Temple has petitioned the Wind and Rain Bureau to send down a divine rain, saying it's your wish. The Wind and Rain Bureau has sent a talisman for instructions. What do you think..."

"I understand. I will speak with the Wind and Rain Bureau myself."

Sun Qinghan nodded slightly, tapped the jade talisman for communication with the county temple on the table, and said in a solemn voice:
"I am Sun Qinghan from the county temple, and Chen Chan from the Department of Receiving Wind and Rain."

……

“That’s right, that’s what I meant. The Fengyu Division must fully cooperate with Nongling Temple. The ‘Lingcheng Project’ is crucial to the economy of Jiuchuan and cannot be delayed. Approval should be granted immediately.”

"Alright, that's settled then."

She put down the jade talisman and instructed Zhao Rong:

"Keep a close eye on Nongling Temple. Grant them whatever they need."

"Yes."

After this message is finished.

Sun Qinghan rested his chin on his long, slender hands in thought. The fragrant orange was just an experiment; they needed to explore other economic crops and couldn't pin their hopes on just one.

……

A few more days passed.

The application for the rain permit hasn't been approved yet, but Nongling Temple has already started paying salaries.

Qin Chuan received his salary from last month. His base salary was two spirit yuan, which is two thousand spirit coins. In addition, he earned bonuses from doing odd jobs, for a total of two thousand five hundred spirit coins.

"Finally, payday!"

He muttered to himself.

I sold the vegetables and fruits I brought from my hometown, and after making two trips to Sifu Street and buying daily necessities, I only have two left.

This money has come at just the right time.

"I could visit Sifu Street again."

In the past month, he had thoroughly examined all the farm tools in the observation fields of Nongling Temple, and Fayun had practically taken everything.

If these spells on my body want to advance further, there's no other way but to rely on my magical essence.

"If I can get past Lingcheng's hurdle, I wonder if I can apply to be transferred to be the warehouse manager..."

Qin Chuan was making plans in his mind.

His Heavenly Essence Furnace was used to extract magical essence from old objects.

The warehouse of an institution like Nongling Temple must have been filled with many items used by the old Taoist priest, and there might even be fragments of magical artifacts.

Unfortunately, managing the warehouse has always been a coveted job—it's easy, low-paying, and you can even make a little extra money on the side. It's not a chance for a newcomer like him, the Fireworker Taoist.

After getting off work, Qin Chuan walked straight to Sifu Street.

Looking at the many people on both sides riding those familiar bicycles imported from outer space, I murmured to myself:

"I commute to and from get off work on my own two legs every day. Although I can travel faster with my cultivation, it's still not as convenient as other people's. Should I get a car too?"

Thinking.

Half an hour later, we arrived at Sifu Street. A month or so had passed, and the place didn't seem to have changed much, except for a few more street stalls along the roadside.

I was lucky today; I'd only gone halfway around when I bumped into someone with Dharma essence at a stall—

[Item: Campfire Cooker]

[This old pot, used for ten years, has been imbued with the magical essence of many cooks. It can be refined to produce a 'Spiritual Chef' magical essence, and can be recycled to yield 5 points of magical essence.]

This pot is so broken it's unrecognizable; it's clearly something the stall owner collected from scrap metal and is putting here to sell as an antique.

Qin Chuan was not surprised.

In his past life, he had seen people selling grain coupons, old cassette tapes, and transistor radios at the Northwest antique market.

Nothing at the antique stalls is new or exciting.

What made his heart skip a beat was that the "spiritual chef" magic power of this broken pot could actually be used to reforge 5 points, making it even "more valuable" than the calligraphy of that deputy city god.

This shows that the person who used this pot back then must have been someone extraordinary.

According to Qin Chuan, the meals prepared by the Heavenly Soldiers' Kitchen are all nourishing, and some special teams eat what is called "spiritual food," otherwise they simply cannot withstand the daily training.

Some retired cooks returned to their hometowns and opened restaurants, selling vegetarian meals, which became incredibly popular.

There's another one like that in Jiuchuan County, but it's outrageously expensive. Qin Chuan had only heard about it from others and had never dared to go in.

After haggling with the stall owner for a long time, I finally got the pot for thirty-five coins.

The stall owner never considered it a treasure; he was just selling it for scrap metal prices.

Holding the iron pot worth 5 points of Dharma Essence, Qin Chuan was overjoyed, feeling like he had found a great bargain.

Continue walking forward.

Before I'd taken two steps, another surprise hit me—

【Item: Talisman Pen】

A talisman brush, buried deep underground for over five hundred years, has only recently seen the light of day again. Its owner used it to draw talismans his entire life, and even when it was worn out, he didn't throw it away but took it directly to his grave.

It can be refined into a 'talisman technique' cultivation level, or it can be recycled to produce 100 points of magic essence.

Qin Chuan's eyelids twitched.

A talisman pen worth 100 Dharma Essence!
This is definitely the most powerful pen he has ever seen. The talismanic power within it is unfathomable. He estimates that if he gets his hands on it, he would probably have to stay up all night just to reforge it.

But when I asked the price, my heart sank.

The stall owner stared at Qin Chuan: "Since you are a Taoist, you should know that this is a tool for drawing talismans, not an ordinary thing. Twenty spirit coins, you can take it."

Twenty spirit essences!
So expensive!
Qin Chuan gasped inwardly; that was almost a year's salary for him.

Even if we sold him now, we still wouldn't be able to raise that much money. We have no choice but to bite the bullet and ask:
"Can you make it cheaper?"

"Twenty yuan, fixed price."

The stall owner, seeing that he was a Taoist priest, refused to budge.

"Then you can keep it for now."

Qin Chuan turned and left.

It's not that he doesn't want it, it's that he really doesn't have the money. He also can't let the stall owner see that he's envious, otherwise even if he saves up enough money in the future, he'll still be taken advantage of.

Seeing how decisively he left, the stall owner became a little suspicious.

He wasn't mistaken; this young man was a Taoist cultivator, but...

Look down at this talisman pen.

Although he knew it was something used by Taoists, he was not a cultivator himself and couldn't tell how much it was worth.

The item was acquired from a group of "earth rats" a while ago; they said it was dug up from an old Taoist priest's grave.

That Taoist priest was recorded in the Jiuchuan County Annals five hundred years ago; he was a talisman master.

That's why he dared to bite twenty spirit essences to death.

On the other side, Qin Chuan scanned the entire street again, but couldn't find a third item with magical essence. However, his mind was already captivated by the talisman brush.

One hundred points of Dharma essence!

How powerful must one's talisman cultivation be? If one could refine it, wouldn't one become a talisman master instantly?

But after touching the meager amount of money in his pocket, he could only sigh:

We absolutely have to make some money!

(End of this chapter)