The critical matter of eradicating the remnants of the White Sun Sect was settled with just a few words from the two Daoist officials. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

When ordained by the Dragon Court, besides the enormous benefits of absorbing spiritual energy and nurturing divine soul thoughts, it also grants a power matching one's status.

For instance, the "Mountain and Sea Search Ritual" mentioned by Master Xuanji only requires setting up an altar with certain artifacts suppressing various positions, then using one's Daoist register to perform a secret technique, thus connecting the mountains, rivers, and lakes of Yihai Prefecture both inside and out, observing every subtle change clearly, as if seeing the lines in one's palm.

Unless the remnants of the White Sun Sect flee three thousand miles away in the dead of night, their tracks will definitely be detected.

Therefore, when Master Xuanji decided to hold the ritual at the government office in three days, related directives were swiftly issued to various towns and counties.

The city was sealed for questioning, the population was checked, and the Fish Scale Atlas was verified... Various tasks were pressed down the line.

The usually idle county city government office, where one could leave to drink tea and watch a play after morning roll call, suddenly became busy.

In the past, catching thieves and solving cases could take half a month without results, but now the speed of drafting documents and deploying troops is astonishing.

"Master Xuanji is eager to make achievements."

Back at Yuanyang Temple, Elder Chongxu ordered the Daoist child to light incense and instructed the workers to clean the ground, recalling the disaster star Qiu Changtian, who caused two promising students at Zhi Xin Temple to be lost, weighing heavily on his heart.

"Qingfeng, find some warriors to uproot the Agarwood Tree in the front yard."

The young Daoist child asked in surprise:

"Observatory Master, this tree has grown for three hundred years and was specially transplanted from Bulao Mountain in Celestial Water Prefecture by you!"

Elder Chongxu's eyes flashed with pain, yet he insisted:

"That wretch Qiu Changtian carries heavy bad luck. He merely urinated at Zhi Xin Temple and Master Xuanji lost two good seedlings with potential for ordainment.

This man is cursed. Better be cautious."

The Daoist child Qingfeng responded and was about to call some warriors to uproot the snake-repelling, rot-resistant Agarwood Tree but was stopped by Elder Chongxu:

"Burn it with fire first to dispel misfortune."

As the main hall quieted down, Elder Chongxu sat cross-legged on a mat facing the Five Emperors Divine Statue, lowering his gaze:

"If what Qiu Changtian said is true, and the White Sun Sect Leader is hiding within Yihai Prefecture, once found by the Mountain and Sea Search Ritual... the consequences are unthinkable.

No matter how wounded a giant of divine power is, it is not something the Dao Skill Fourth Realm can contend with.

Besides, the deaths of the He Brothers may not be connected to the remnants of the White Sun Sect.

Master Xuanji is clearly throwing dirty water to exploit the situation... He should be retiring in a year or two, yet Master Xuanji insists on making a fuss."

Elder Chongxu, both displeased and helpless, had failed to break through to become a Ghost Immortal. His divine soul was muddled, unable to comprehend the transformation of life and death, and after ten years in Yihai Prefecture, his cultivation had hardly progressed.

According to the Dragon Court's rules, as one ages and approaches the end of their term, it is time for departure and retirement.

Yuanyang Temple has already become a cold stove on the verge of going out, how could it possibly compete with the burgeoning Zhi Xin Temple?

"Lacking good seedlings! If only there was a promising disciple ranked in Simurgh Platform, I might still bask in some glory and return to the Jade Liquid Pool once more!"

Elder Chongxu sighed longingly. The most important tasks for an ordained Daoist official assuming office are talent selection and city defense.

If there were extraordinary talents under his Daoist school's jurisdiction, getting selected for the Simurgh Platform register and sent to Divine Capital for study, it would also count as an achievement.

"Over the years, Master Xuanji has been pressing step by step, and Zhi Xin Temple's Daoist school has snatched away too many good seedlings, leaving Yuanyang Temple without a single outstanding figure with a Life Fragrance reaching four feet."

Elder Chongxu, contemplating this, added a touch of coldness in his eyes:

"A Mountain and Sea Search Ritual? Master Xuanji, you aim to catch a big fish, but don't end up provoking a man-eating monster that consumes yourself!"

...

...

"Elder Chongxu is sensible, willing to contribute a cauldron of spiritual energy, arranging this Mountain and Sea Search Ritual with me."

At the back mountain of Zhi Xin Temple, Master Xuanji sat upright in a meditation chamber, robed in a wide Daoist robe, barefoot with loose hair, with several items placed in front on a desk—an Elephant-headed Vajra Copper Incense Burner, a box of purple Golden Sun Morning Glow Qi, and a black, dense Thousand-Year Dragon-Slaying Wood.

Each of these three items holds extraordinary value, enough to equal the lifetime toil of heterodox loose cultivators across generations.

The Elephant-headed Vajra Copper Incense Burner, consecrated by Buddhist monks chanting and imbued with meditative charm, calms the mind and wards off external demons, and is a precious treasure for cultivation.

If it weren't for a few years ago when an assassin named Old Knife Master from the Hidden Pavilion decapitated Qiu Qianchuan, the personal disciple of Meridian Sword Sect, and was found to have died from Great Vajra Power after forensic examination,

provoking the Meridian Sword Sect into a furious retaliation that wiped out all temples within Celestial Water Prefecture, this prized artifact, worth several dou of Spiritual Sand, would not have fallen into Master Xuanji's hands.

The Golden Sun Morning Glow Qi was personally sent by Song Lin, the master of Chai Market in Black River County, harvested at the moment of sunrise when the water vapor and the glow of dawn merge, aiding in the cultivation of Fire Dao Technique.

The Thousand-Year Dragon-Slaying Wood is a magical artifact of Zhi Xin Temple, specifically effective against the dragon lineage of Nu Yun River Water Monarch Palace, covered with seventy-two layers of refining bans, containing abundant primal energy and infinite uses when activated.

"With the absence of He Jinghong and He Jingyun, the year-end assessment may lose points. Send a Daoist child to Black River County and see if Song Lin's offspring has promising talent, then recruit them into the Daoist school to fill a vacancy.

The remaining slots were previously promised to Chen Xing's stepson..."

Master Xuanji opened the latticed cover and casually tossed a few fingernail-sized sticks of incense. Before long, milky white smoke rose in spirals,

"The He brothers were regrettably good seedlings, yet they perished in the void of the Inner Scenic Land. Before He Hongyun died, he shouted 'Four Reversals Demon Sect,' why did those capricious demon cult bastards harm the students of the Daoist school?"