The Saintess puffed out her cheeks slightly and looked toward Dao Xuan Tianzun, her tone carrying a hint of grievance.
She wanted to soak in a hot spring.
The moment Chen Yuanbo heard those words, his soul practically left his body.
Without a second thought, he retreated several steps back—far, far away.
A hot spring?
The Saintess?
Bathing?
Such thoughts were things he wouldn't dare allow into his mind—not even for a fleeting instant. To even imagine it would be an unforgivable act of blasphemy.
Blaspheming the Saintess didn't just mean losing one's qualification for Labor Reform.
It meant immediate execution.
On the spot.
By comparison, Li Daoxuan merely laughed and turned to look at Gao Yiye.
"Wenxian County is a complete mess right now," he said calmly. "Zhang Xianzhong's Eight Great Kings just swept through the county seat. The bandit forces are still besieging Huaiqing Prefecture, and that place is practically next door to Wenxian."
He continued, tone relaxed but realistic.
"Even the imperial court couldn't find officials willing to take office there. We only managed to place Chen Yuanbo through sheer luck."
Then he added casually, "If you run off to Wenxian for a hot spring bath and bandits suddenly storm in halfway through… you might not even have time to get dressed."
Gao Yiye gasped.
"Huh?!"
She wasn't worried about her safety—after all, Dao Xuan Tianzun was watching over them.
But not having time to get dressed?
That was serious.
Very serious.
She pouted again, visibly troubled.
"Then… what should I do?"
Li Daoxuan chuckled inwardly.
This girl is becoming cuter by the day, he thought. Now she even knows how to act coquettish.
He had never liked excessive reverence. He preferred natural conversation—give and take, relaxed and lively. Gao Yiye's current demeanor suited his taste perfectly.
He tapped his fingers lightly and pretended to think.
"Let me see… Is there anywhere safe enough for a hot spring?"
He pondered for a while.
Then—suddenly—his eyes lit up.
In his future life, when he had traveled to Xi'an to see the Terracotta Army, he had stayed at a hot spring hotel in Lintong County.
And there was also a famous place there—
Huaqing Palace Hot Spring.
Perfect.
"I'll go take a look," he said aloud.
"Yiye, wait here for a moment. I'm going on a divine journey."
With that, Li Daoxuan severed the co-sensing connection, his consciousness withdrawing from the golden-threaded statue and returning to his physical body outside the box.
He reached out and tapped the "Lintong County" button along the outer rim of the box.
In an instant, his perspective shifted.
Shaanxi.
Lintong County.
Previously, the farthest his vision could extend was Yanliang District, roughly a hundred li northeast of Xi'an. But after his extensive rescue efforts in Henan—saving people in all kinds of ingenious ways, assisting the suffering masses of Mengjin County—
Although the reputation of "savior to thousands" belonged to Bai Yuan…
All the Salvation Index points had gone straight into Li Daoxuan's pocket.
As a result, his Field of View expanded once again.
Now, it fully encompassed Lintong County.
Lintong County was vast.
Li Daoxuan began searching, tapping the north, south, east, and west buttons repeatedly, sweeping the land inch by inch.
He searched for the Huaqing Palace Hot Spring.
And yet—
Nothing.
No matter how he looked, he couldn't find it.
Only then did he remember—
Huaqing Palace had flourished during the Tang Dynasty, but it was later destroyed by war. Rebuilt once in the Song Dynasty, it was then ruined again by conflict.
By the late Ming Dynasty…
It had essentially vanished.
Li Daoxuan sighed and pulled out a modern map, then compared it carefully with a Ming-era map, cross-referencing the terrain again and again.
Only then did he finally pinpoint the approximate location.
He focused his view.
At last, he saw it.
Broken walls.
Collapsed foundations.
Ruins swallowed by tangled trees and wild weeds.
If one merely glanced from above without careful inspection, there would be no hint that a palace had ever stood there.
"…Where's the hot spring?" Li Daoxuan muttered.
He searched among the ruins carefully.
Nothing.
That was when it dawned on him.
The hot spring was underground.
In this era—without artificial development—how could a hot spring simply appear on the surface?
But Gao Yiye wanted to soak.
Which meant—
He'd have to dig one out himself.
Li Daoxuan ducked into the kitchen and grabbed a slender stainless steel chopstick.
Choosing a random spot among the Huaqing Palace ruins, he plunged the chopstick straight down.
Stab.
Thrust.
Deep.
The chopstick was only twenty centimeters long.
Yet when he applied force, it sank downward—over thirty meters.
He pulled it out.
A narrow hole remained, but no water emerged.
He tried another spot.
Nothing.
Another.
Still nothing.
He kept going.
After five or six attempts, the moment the chopstick pierced downward again, Li Daoxuan felt a distinct sensation—
As if he had punctured something soft and pressurized.
He withdrew the chopstick instantly.
A jet of water erupted from underground.
Li Daoxuan reached into the box and felt it.
Warm.
About fifty degrees Celsius.
The hot spring.
Found.
Li Daoxuan was delighted.
He immediately re-established the co-sensing connection, and with a whoosh, his consciousness returned to the Dao Xuan Tianzun avatar.
"Yiye," he announced, "the hot spring is ready. It's in Lintong County, near Xi'an."
Gao Yiye's eyes lit up.
"Near Xi'an? I've always wanted to see Xi'an! This is perfect!"
Li Daoxuan laughed.
"Don't rush. Take your time sailing back. I'll go ahead and arrange for people to clean the place up—it's a bit too wild right now."
And so, Gao Yiye began making preparations for her return journey to Xi'an.
Meanwhile—
Chen Yuanbo disembarked from the pleasure boat and boarded a troop transport, continuing onward toward Wenxian County, to officially assume his post.
At the same time, in the back room of the Xi'an Prefectural Fertilizer Shop—
The Test-001 Dao Xuan Tianzun, who had been sitting motionless for an uncomfortably long time, suddenly sprang to his feet.
The mynah bird perched on the nearby table was so startled it nearly flipped its cage.
For days now, it hadn't understood what was wrong with its "master."
Just recently, this man had been taking it out daily for walks.
Then suddenly—
He stopped moving.
Stopped eating.
Sat there without stirring.
Dust had settled on his body.
If not for Padi Tu, who came every day to feed the bird a little, it would have starved long ago.
The mynah shrieked,
"Caw! He's alive! He's alive!"
Li Daoxuan shushed it and picked up the cage.
"Come on," he said, "let's go find some people. We need to arrange the hot spring."
The mynah tilted its head.
"What's the point? He's not stiff anymore!"
Li Daoxuan clenched his fist—
A fist as large as a begging bowl.
The mynah instantly shut up.
Li Daoxuan stepped out of the fertilizer shop.
The first person he encountered was Wang Tang, who hurriedly bowed.
"Greetings, Dao Xuan Tianzun!"
Li Daoxuan smiled.
"How are things in Xi'an lately?"
Wang Tang reported quickly, "All industries are progressing smoothly. Our Middle School graduates have entered various sectors. At first, their lack of real-world experience caused some losses, but they quickly combined theory with practice. Efficiency has increased significantly. Everything is now on track."
"Excellent," Li Daoxuan nodded. "Arrange for workers to go to the Huaqing Palace ruins in Lintong County. Clear the debris, repair the area, dig out a clean hot spring pool, and enclose it simply for privacy."
Wang Tang blinked.
"Oh?"
Li Daoxuan chuckled.
"Yiye wants to soak in a hot spring."
Understanding dawned immediately.
"Ah! The Saintess's request!" Wang Tang exclaimed. "I'll arrange it at once!"
He turned and sprinted off.
So fast that he nearly collided with Padi Tu, who had just returned. The two brushed past each other.
Padi Tu grinned.
"Why the rush? Wang Tang, wait! I need to talk to you. The Prince of Qin's heir, Zhu Cunji, has more money than he knows what to do with. Any ideas how we can extract some of it and distribute it to the poor—"
"No time!" Wang Tang shouted without stopping.
"Dao Xuan Tianzun is here and gave me an errand! I have to go!"
His voice echoed as he disappeared into the distance.