[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-great-jin-s-most-iron-rice-bowl":3,"chapter-the-great-jin-s-most-iron-rice-bowl-the-great-jin-s-most-iron-rice-bowl-chapter-217":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Great Jin's Most Iron Rice Bowl",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1896991,2531,"Chapter 217: The Hearts of the People","the-great-jin-s-most-iron-rice-bowl-chapter-217",217,"\u003Cp>Two sticks of third-grade incense remained out of the original six, a result no one had anticipated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As an imperial prince of the royal house, Chu Junhao watched as the Dong'an Prince's Manor, the Xiping Prince's Manor, the Nanding Prince's Manor, and the Beizhen Prince's Manor all secured secret realms, while he had not even managed to ignite a single stick of third-grade incense, a fact he found difficult to accept.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was this not telling the world that the imperial house was inferior to the four princely manors of different surnames?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the royal house gain nothing, Prince Shou's expression turned terrifyingly gloomy; his face had hardly brightened since the members of the Dao-Protecting families arrived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hua Changxi was also somewhat surprised that Chu Junhao had failed to ignite the third-grade incense; upon seeing the four great princely manors of the southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast ignite their alchemical incense, she inferred that maintaining social order also counted as merit, and thus the Divine Tree would bestow blessings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the Chu imperial clan was ultimately the most legitimate ruler of Great Jin; their merit should not have been less than that of the four princely manors of different surnames.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Junhao's failure to ignite the alchemical incense raised the question: was the royal house's fortune declining, or was Chu Junhao himself inadequate?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only did Hua Changxi think this, but Gu Xing and Xia Zhen also harbored similar thoughts, while Wei Zhenjie and Celestial Master Zhang wore expressions of deep contemplation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The side of the Dao-Protecting families also exceeded Hua Changxi's expectations; she had originally assumed that the ten Wood Spirit Bodies brought by Xia Zhen would all receive the Divine Tree's blessing given the sufficient alchemical incense, yet unexpectedly, four of them gained nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only one of the Long siblings secured a secret realm, suggesting a limit of one person per family, which was understandable; what surprised her was that neither Dongfang Hao, whose constitution she could not fathom, nor his brother Dongfang Xu, had received the Divine Tree's favor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Hua Changxi's attention focused on the Long siblings and the Dongfang brothers, Gu Jinfan's gaze was fixed on Jiang Nianyi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing that Jiang Nianyi had not ignited the third-grade incense nor obtained a Divine Tree secret realm, the heart Gu Jinfan had been holding finally settled back into her chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In her previous life, the Alchemy Saint Hall had been controlled by external cultivators led by the Jiang family; in this life, members of the Dao-Protecting families had emerged early, and descendants of the five great Dao-Protecting families had all come to the Alchemy Saint Hall; with these people present, the Jiang family and other external cultivators would surely be unable to stir up trouble as they had in the previous life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Qingyao, it is your turn to worship the Divine Tree.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Zhen valued Mu Qingyao above all others; as the Dao-Protector responsible for the Alchemy Saint Hall, he naturally hoped the future master of the sacred land would be someone he selected, but since Long Jin, the Dongfang brothers, and the Jiang daughter had all failed to receive the Divine Tree's blessing, his heart now rose with anxiety.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mu Qingyao took a deep breath and approached the offering table, where only two sticks of first-grade incense and two sticks of third-grade incense remained; without hesitation, she picked up a stick of first-grade incense, performed three kneelings and nine kowtows, and then, with slight nervousness, inserted the alchemical incense into the Divine Tree censer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It lit, the alchemical incense lit!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As curling green smoke billowed out, Meng Yuchuan shouted excitedly, and the expressions of the others immediately brightened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hua Changxi stared unblinkingly at the rising alchemical incense, silently counting the flashes of green light in her heart: \"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the green light flashed for the seventh time, the alchemical incense in the Divine Tree censer burned out rapidly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meng Qingyao had obtained a seventh-grade secret realm!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The corners of Hua Changxi's mouth involuntarily curled upward; the peerless genius selected by the Dao-Protectors was still inferior to herself, and she could not help but feel a sense of pride.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, noticing Gu Xing looking at her, she quickly pressed her lips back down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What does Old Man Gu mean?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Gu Xing look at her, then at Meng Qingyao, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two of them several times, filled with scrutiny and weighing, Hua Changxi frowned directly at this behavior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Zhen was greatly gratified that Meng Qingyao had successfully ignited the first-grade incense; seeing Gu Xing, the Minister of the Heaven Department, and Celestial Master Zhang all sizing up Meng Qingyao, he immediately began detailing to them the extraordinary talent Meng Qingyao had displayed in alchemy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having gained nothing, Prince Shou was already impatient; looking at the remaining one stick of first-grade incense and two sticks of third-grade incense on the offering table, he disregarded the lively conversation between Xia Zhen and the other three and interrupted directly: \"Senior Xia, how shall these remaining three sticks of alchemical incense be handled?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sharp glint flashed in Xia Zhen's eyes as he replied irritably: \"Since no one has ignited these three sticks of alchemical incense, naturally, this old man will take them back.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Prince Shou said: \"Since Senior Xia has already brought the alchemical incense to the Medical Bureau, taking it back would be too troublesome; would it not be better for this prince to select some more excellent alchemy talents to come and worship the Divine Tree?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Zhen knew Prince Shou was coveting the Divine Tree secret realms; looking at the cultivators who had come with him, apart from the ten Wood Spirit Bodies, there were many single Wood Spirit Root cultivators, and these people would surely possess greater alchemy talent than those Prince Shou would select.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Very well, there are still many cultivators on my side who have not yet worshipped the Divine Tree.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Prince Shou had no desire to compete with the cultivators selected by the Dao-Protectors; what he wanted was to directly obtain those three sticks of alchemical incense: \"Senior Xia, this is the capital of Great Jin; you brought so many people to the Medical Bureau this time and are even competing with those selected by the imperial court for the positions of Hall Masters; out of respect for the Dao-Protecting families, this prince has agreed.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"However, regarding the nine Hall Masters appointed by the imperial court, the people you brought directly occupied six of them without prior notification to the court; your actions are somewhat too overbearing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If this matter spreads, this prince fears it will tarnish the reputation of the Dao-Protectors, making people think you are abusing your status as a Dao-Protector to arbitrarily install your own people within the imperial court, which will surely cause widespread dissatisfaction...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Prince Shou did not finish his sentence, but everyone present understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was threatening Xia Zhen: if he wanted the imperial court to acknowledge the positions of Hall Masters for Meng Qingyao and the other six, the remaining three sticks of alchemical incense must be ignited by people selected by Prince Shou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Zhen was furious upon hearing this, momentarily wanting to strike out and teach Prince Shou a lesson, but he restrained himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no other reason; the royal house feared the underlying strength of the Dao-Protectors, while the Dao-Protecting families also feared the status of the royal house as the legitimate rulers; the royal house could legitimately issue decrees to sway public opinion, directly influencing the hearts of the people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For cultivators themselves, the support of the people might not matter, but if one wished to establish a sect in a world of cultivator hegemony, or if one wished to become the master of the Alchemy Saint Hall, the hearts of the people were crucial.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Due to the merit of protecting the Dao, the Dao-Protecting families could indeed seize certain opportunities in the early stages of spiritual qi recovery, but as time went on and more geniuses who stirred the winds and clouds of the era emerged, the role of the Dao-Protecting families would gradually weaken; no one could say clearly how far the Dao-Protecting families would go in the future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Zhen did not want the Dao-Protecting families to tear open relations with the royal house immediately upon their emergence, yet he was unwilling to hand over the three sticks of alchemical incense for Prince Shou to distribute: \"Prince Shou, for the remaining three sticks of alchemical incense, you select a few people, and this old man will also send a few, then we will take turns worshipping the Divine Tree; this is the greatest concession this old man can make.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But for Prince Shou, this was essentially no concession at all, so he was naturally unwilling; yet he likewise dared not truly do anything to Xia Zhen, and for a moment, the atmosphere at the scene became stagnant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Cough, cough...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A heavy cough broke the stagnant atmosphere; everyone followed the sound and discovered it was Hua Changxi coughing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Gu Xing looked over, Hua Changxi gazed at him and said: \"Senior Gu, the Dao-Protecting families guarding the uninterrupted inheritance of the sacred land is indeed boundless merit, but the Gu family, which has guarded the sacred land for generations, has also contributed greatly through hard work; regarding the handling of the remaining three sticks of alchemical incense, do you not have any opinion?\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1586,"2026-06-12T02:51:23.636Z",1,"Qwen3.5 397B","ca4727530ba3bf96c2f2192c99f357621898f907a825d1ce7ab69a664b321dbe","the-great-jin-s-most-iron-rice-bowl-chapter-218","the-great-jin-s-most-iron-rice-bowl-chapter-216",558,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-great-jin-s-most-iron-rice-bowl-cover.jpg"]