[{"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-302":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},1897076,2531,"Chapter 302: Astrological Observation Tower","the-great-jin-s-most-iron-rice-bowl-chapter-302",302,"\u003Cp>Xia Zi thought that since Hua Changxi was chasing that shapeshifted demon beast, a battle was inevitable along the way; once fighting broke out, bystanders would surely be caught in the crossfire, and by following behind to rescue them, they could reap a wave of reputation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yuchuan, we have too few people with us; quickly send a message to Qingyao and have her bring some reinforcements.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meng Yuchuan had always wanted to accumulate reputation for Meng Qingyao, so with such an opportunity, he naturally would not miss it, swiftly sending out the message.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I hope Hua Changxi proves reliable; she must absolutely not let that demon beast escape.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, Xia Zi led Meng Yuchuan and a few others, tailing the Demon-Suppressing Army as they sped through the streets and alleys of Jingcheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side, knowing that the human cultivators did not wish to endanger ordinary citizens, the snake demon darted wherever the crowds were densest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Hua Changxi had scruples, she dared not press the snake demon too hard, fearing it might suddenly erupt and attack the common people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, after activating the Observation, Listening, Questioning, and Pulse-Taking Technique, she could quickly identify the snake demon within the crowd; therefore, throughout the journey, she carefully avoided startling the pedestrians on the street, merely following at a moderate distance while seeking a suitable opportunity to strike.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Make way! Make way!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Demon-Suppressing Army did not possess Hua Changxi's composure; they could only rely on the Demon-Revealing Jade absorbing demonic energy to track the positions of the snake demon and Hua Changxi, and as the light on the jade grew increasingly faint, their pursuit became ever more urgent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When passing through bustling markets, they were often frantic and aggressive; coupled with Xia Zi's group following closely behind, their passage left the pedestrians on the street in a state of panic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What is happening?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Did you see? That is the Demon-Suppressing Army; when they mobilize, it means either a demon beast is present or a cultivator has injured someone.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Stop watching the spectacle; go home quickly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As night fell, the number of pedestrians on the streets gradually diminished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Company Commander, the Demon-Revealing Jade shows no reaction.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After leaving the Dongcheng area, He Dalang and his subordinate Demon-Suppressing soldiers lost track of both Hua Changxi and the snake demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not far away, Xia Zi, Meng Yuchuan, and their group also came to a halt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing that the Demon-Suppressing Army had ceased its pursuit, Meng Yuchuan frowned: \"The famed Demon-Suppressing Army is nothing special; they actually lost track of their target!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Zi's expression was equally grim, not only because they had lost Hua Changxi, but also because no one had been caught in the crossfire during the entire chase, meaning his goal of accumulating reputation had come to naught.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tonight, they had all worked in vain!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Company Commander!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A Demon-Suppressing soldier stationed on the eaves suddenly shouted urgently to He Dalang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing this, He Dalang immediately leaped onto the roof, and immediately after, his sister's striking red figure came into view.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the bright moon, more than ten market blocks away, Hua Changxi was sprinting at high speed across the eaves; every few rooftops she crossed, she would jump down and vanish for a moment, only to reappear on the eaves, vanish again, then reappear and vanish once more...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon seeing this, He Dalang immediately led the Demon-Suppressing Army rushing toward that direction, while Xia Zi and his group hurried to follow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Hua Changxi appeared again, she was standing on the eaves of a five-story inn, inside which the noise of crowds was deafening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Damn it, to think that snake demon actually escaped!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hua Changxi stamped her foot in some frustration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Never mind; that snake demon was struck by my Spirit Needle, so it should be unable to cause trouble for a short while.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After muttering unwillingly for a while, Hua Changxi mounted her Spirit Cloud and quickly vanished from the eaves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not long after Hua Changxi departed, He Dalang led the Demon-Suppressing Army hurrying past the outside of the inn, followed shortly by Xia Zi and his group.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the Demon-Suppressing Army mobilized, the common people around the inn dared no longer loiter on the streets, hastily returning to their homes and barring their doors tight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, the streets were completely empty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time quickly passed to midnight; amidst the silence of all things, a green snake a foot long crawled out of the inn's firewood storage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The green snake moved with incredible speed, its form completely hidden within the shadows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as the green snake crawled to a relatively open street intersection, several streaks of firelight, swift as lightning, suddenly erupted from the darkness, shooting straight toward the snake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ah~\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A piercing scream tore through the silent night sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Dalang, who had found nothing during his search and was preparing to lead his subordinates back to the Heaven Division for handover, startled at the sound of the scream, and immediately sped with the Demon-Suppressing Army toward the direction from which the noise came.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Following right on the heels of the Demon-Suppressing Army, having circled Jingcheng for several hours, Xia Zi and Meng Yuchuan exchanged a glance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meng Yuchuan hesitated: \"Should we still follow?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Zi gritted his teeth: \"Follow!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side, Hua Changxi had not expected the snake demon to escape even after she had shattered its demon core, so she could only chase after it with increased speed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she pursued, she began to sense something was amiss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The direction the snake demon was fleeing happened to be toward Central Street, where the Heaven Division was located!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Heaven Division was the garrison of the Demon-Suppressing Army; was this snake demon rushing off to commit suicide?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon reaching the entrance of Central Street, the foot-long snake demon suddenly stopped and spoke in human language: \"Hua Changxi, if you are willing to spare me, I am willing to serve you as my master.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hua Changxi paused for a moment, then replied: \"I do not want demonic beasts that have eaten humans!\" Spiritual energy swirled around her hand as the Fire Spirit Divine Needle rapidly condensed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, the snake demon gnashed its teeth in rage: \"Hua Changxi, you seek to exterminate me completely; the demon race and you cannot coexist under the same sky! Even in death, I will not let you claim my body.\" With that, it shot like lightning into a tall building on Central Street.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the exact moment the snake demon moved, the Fire Spirit Divine Needle at Hua Changxi's fingertips also shot forth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Bang~\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The snake demon was struck by the Fire Spirit Divine Needle, yet it still plunged into the tall building; moments later, that building suddenly trembled, as if struck by some heavy object.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Next, a brilliant light ignited atop the building, radiating for several li, illuminating the entire Central Street.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hua Changxi quickly arrived before the building, only then realizing that the snake demon had rushed into the Astrological Observation Tower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Astrological Observation Tower, a place for star-gazing and divination, had been extremely mysterious even before the revival of spiritual energy, taking orders only from the imperial family; after the revival of spiritual energy, it became even more mysterious, to the point that not even the Emperor was permitted to enter at will.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hua Changxi gazed at the light atop the tower, curiosity flashing in her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was said that this Astrological Observation Tower connected to the stars of the entire cosmos; one wondered if it was true?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If she hadn't encountered it, that would be one thing, but since she had stumbled upon it... she really wanted to go inside and take a look.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A gleam of eagerness sparkled in Hua Changxi's eyes; the snake demon should be dead inside, so entering to retrieve the beast she had hunted should be a perfectly valid excuse, right?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking thus, and seeing the Qintian Tower forced open by the snake demon, Hua Changxi hesitated a moment before cautiously stepping inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The brilliant radiance atop Qintian Tower created such a massive disturbance that Yan Zhenzhen, Jing Le, and Tong Yao, who were patrolling Beicheng, Xicheng, and Nancheng respectively, all noticed it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon seeing it, the three simultaneously rushed toward this location.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In ancient times, Qintian Tower was named the Star-Gazing Tower; its treasured artifact was the Celestial Star Disk, capable of summoning stars, whose movements could reveal the strategic trends of the Four Spirit Realms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An anomaly appearing at the Star-Gazing Tower certainly meant something had gone wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, in the Heaven Division right next to Qintian Tower, Wei Zhenjie watched Yuan Qi, the Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, sitting inside drinking tea with thoughtful interest, and smiled as he tested him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The demon clan appeared on Central Street; the Demon-Suppressing Army should have been deployed to quell them, yet you stopped me from intervening, and now you are allowing Hua Changxi to enter Qintian Tower...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Have you divined something?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Qi smiled without speaking and continued drinking his tea.\u003C\u002Fp>",1513,"2026-06-12T02:51:23.636Z",1,"Qwen3.5 397B","16ea1c3fa11ebd95964a78755bc4aedf2185a301450222990319184815cb1c14","the-great-jin-s-most-iron-rice-bowl-chapter-303","the-great-jin-s-most-iron-rice-bowl-chapter-301",558,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-great-jin-s-most-iron-rice-bowl-cover.jpg"]