Chapter 295 - 158: Prospecting the Earth Vein, Finding a Treasured Land

Chapter 295: Chapter 158: Prospecting the Earth Vein, Finding a Treasured Land

In the depths of the Examination Department’s offices in Dayuan Prefecture.

On an observatory platform inscribed with countless complex array patterns, several figures with auras as deep as the abyss and vast as the sea stood with their hands clasped behind their backs, their profound gazes fixed on seven Ancient Bronze Mirrors floating in the void.

The mirrors showed no clear images, only streams of multi-colored qi, like coiling dragons, madly intertwining and colliding.

Shen Xuance, seated in the place of honor, looked dignified and composed in his dark gold official uniform.

As a Purple Mansion Realm Master, his every move faintly resonated with the surrounding nature’s spiritual energy.

Beside him, sharing a drink, sat a middle-aged woman who appeared to be in her thirties, clad in a deep purple Star Official Robe.

This woman was none other than Hee Wenyan, Director of the Dayuan Prefecture Celestial Observatory.

Also in the Purple Mansion Realm, her Divine Thought fluctuated with a sharpness that seemed capable of prying into celestial secrets.

"Lord Shen, half a day has passed. Have you sensed anyone igniting a ’Divine Fire’?"

Hee Wenyan set down her white porcelain teacup and asked flatly.

Shen Xuance chuckled, leisurely lifting the teapot to pour more water. "Lord Hee, you’re being a little too impatient. It’s only been half a day. I doubt these juniors have even finished exploring the periphery yet."

A Secret Realm is, in essence, a fragment of a collapsed world.

These fragments are exceedingly fragile and reject outsiders. If a Purple Mansion Master were to force their way in, the immense aura of their Magical Power would instantly trigger the fragment’s collapse, causing the Secret Realm to be utterly annihilated in the turbulent void.

That is why the Great Zhou Court designated this place as a battlefield for the Celestial Examination, sending in Qi Cultivation Cultivators to harvest its resources.

"Not impatient? My Celestial Observatory is responsible for recording the ’Divine Dao Nodes’ within Qingzhou. If not a single Divine Fire Node is lit in this Secret Realm, and we can’t secure it with a Celestial Dao Mark, then this fragment will eventually disappear into the void completely."

"Though people from other prefectures might make a move, if that happens..."

A hint of anxiety creased Hee Wenyan’s brow. "If not a single Divine Fire Node is claimed by Dayuan Prefecture this time, it won’t just be a blow to our reputation. My Celestial Observatory’s annual assessment will likely receive a ’poor’ rating. It would be a complete loss of face."

Shen Xuance picked up his teacup, his gaze profound.

He knew perfectly well that Hee Wenyan was only worried about the Celestial Observatory’s performance record.

For him, the Director of the Examination Department, his performance wasn’t directly tied to who achieved Foundation Establishment or ignited a Divine Fire, as long as the examination process itself ran without major errors.

"Lord Hee, you worry too much. The scions of Dayuan Prefecture’s great local families, such as Wuu Ziqing of the Wuu Family and a direct descendant of the Lu Family, have all brought their clan’s ultimate magical treasures. If they team up, igniting a Divine Fire within three to five days should not be a difficult task."

"Three to five days..." Hee Wenyan took another sip of tea and sighed softly. "Let’s hope so. I just pray we don’t become a laughingstock for the other Prefecture Cities."

Just then, from below the Observatory Platform, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Examination Hall, who was responsible for monitoring the Array Compass, suddenly cried out in shock.

"Report—!"

The cultivator practically scrambled up the steps, his face a mask of ecstatic disbelief. "Lord Shen! Lord Hee! The central quadrant of the Cyan Nether Realm... a Divine Fire Node... has been lit!"

"What?!"

The back of Hee Wenyan’s hand trembled, nearly spilling the water from her teacup. She shot to her feet, her eyes flashing like lightning. "Say that again? The Cyan Nether Realm? It’s only been half a day! Who could possibly break through all those malevolent creatures and find a Land Altar?"

Shen Xuance, too, shed his nonchalant demeanor, his gaze sharpening.

In the void, one of the Ancient Bronze Mirrors suddenly flared with a dazzling point of cyan-gold light.

Though faint, it was exceptionally stark against the pitch-black Evil Qi that filled the mirror’s surface.

Hee Wenyan reacted in a flash. Her fingertips formed a hand seal, and her Purple Mansion Level Divine Sense shot across the void, following the array’s connection, attempting to lock onto the aura of that Divine Fire.

"Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!"

After a moment of sensing, she clapped her hands and laughed heartily, the tension on her face melting away like ice in the sun. "It truly is a Divine Fire! Though it’s only the most basic Land Altar, the Divine Dao Mark has been successfully branded.

"And in a large Secret Realm, no less. This gives Dayuan Prefecture a perfect start. Now I’ll have no trouble submitting my report!"

Staring at the flickering point of light in the mirror, Shen Xuance felt a sliver of doubt.

’The Southeast Quadrant...’

’Could some prodigy have brought a Forbidden Secret Treasure and used it to bypass the outer region entirely?’

A few names flashed through Shen Xuance’s mind, but none of them seemed to fit.

...

Within the Secret Realm, tides of cyan Evil Qi surged, only to come to an abrupt halt ten zhang before a dilapidated Land God Temple.

Chu Bai stood within a translucent cyan barrier of light, a look of lingering astonishment on his face.

As the dozen or so Cyan Nether Pearls he had offered transformed into streams of light and merged into the divine statue, the once-lifeless clay figure began to emit a crisp cracking sound.

CRACK...

Fragments of the clay shell flaked away, and the statue, originally only waist-high, swayed amidst the dust.

Under Chu Bai’s watchful gaze, the clay figure seemed to come to life. A little old man hopped out from within it, dressed in an earth-yellow Patchwork Robe, half-bald, with a sparse beard.

The little old man landed with extreme lightness, yet he possessed none of the ethereal grace of an immortal.

He first rubbed his eyes in a daze, then, like a spinning top, he zipped around the ten-zhang-wide clearing in a full circle.

"Who awakens me?"

"For what purpose am I awakened?"

He stopped short, hunched down, and craned his neck to stare at Chu Bai. His murky eyes were filled with confusion and sluggishness as he asked in a hollow, rumbling voice, "Who are you?"

Before Chu Bai could answer, the old man scratched his sparse hair and muttered to himself, "And who am I?"

Chu Bai’s brow furrowed. He understood immediately.

’This Land God’s divine post still exists, but after countless years without the nourishment of worship, eroded by the Evil Qi, its Spirituality has likely all but dissipated. What’s awakened now is merely a lingering wisp of its former will and divinity.’