Chapter 201
Looking down at the land of Zeguo, Zheng Fa couldn't help but speculate: if there truly were ordinary people in this world, they probably wouldn't be living too well.
...
His spirit had been wandering over the sealed land for several days, moving and estimating as he went. The area of this sealed land was indeed quite vast.
By modern measurements, this region was roughly close to a million square kilometers—an area that would be considered a medium-sized country in the modern world.
But... there was no one.
In such a large expanse, there were only about a dozen human settlements, with a combined population of less than five hundred thousand... This was understandable—based on his observations over the past few days, 99.9% of the land in this region was unsuitable for human habitation, let alone for cultivating crops.
One day, his spirit arrived at a high mountain. Looking up, he saw a city built against a small hill. Through the Fengshen Ce (Book of Sealing Gods), Zheng Fa learned that this place had a population of around seventy to eighty thousand, making it one of the largest cities on his sealed land.
This small city had no gates; it could be described as merely a cluster of dwellings.
The houses were quite peculiar, small and seemingly half-buried in the ground, with thick, slanted roofs that appeared designed to withstand lightning and facilitate drainage.
Most of the people in the small city wore garments made from a type of aquatic vine, their bodies thin and their faces pale from lack of sunlight, their expressions a mix of numbness and resilience.
These linen clothes were probably quite precious.
Most men were bare-chested, revealing their gaunt ribs.
The women, on the other hand, had only a little more coverage on their chests. To be honest, most of them were not particularly attractive—
They were even thinner than the men, with many barely showing any gender characteristics.
At the innermost part of the small city, against the cliff, stood the largest and widest building, which, while described as tall and spacious, was only about one and a half zhang (approximately 5 meters) high and three to four zhang (approximately 10-13 meters) wide.
This was a temple, and the statue inside had long lost its color, its features now blurred.
There weren't many people in the temple, but there was a steady stream of visitors.
They knelt on the ground to pray, but their faces showed little sincerity, as if it were merely a routine, or perhaps a last-ditch effort.
Zheng Fa's spirit flew into the statue.
He was immediately bombarded by the chatter of the worshippers' thoughts.
Perhaps due to the Fengshen Ce, he could understand the language of this world.
"The Thunder God hasn't shown his spirit in many years..."
"I hope I can catch a few more fish today..."
"Please let it rain less..."
"My son was struck by lightning; he's a good boy. Thunder God, have mercy..."
Various thoughts flashed through his mind, making it feel particularly noisy.
What chilled his spirit even more was that they only prayed and offered nothing in return.
It seemed they lacked a bit of trust in their Thunder God.
To be honest, with such an attitude, it was hard for a god to do anything...
But Zheng Fa recalled what Yan Wushuang had said—this was their main method of accumulating heavenly merit: listening to the hearts of the faithful and judging good and evil.
Then, strike down a few wicked people.
However, it required controlling the intensity of the lightning; according to the rules of the Fengshen Ce, different misdeeds warranted different punishments by lightning.
Of course, Yan Wushuang and the others couldn't be that precise; it was more like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead rat. As long as they struck down enough people, there would eventually be a time when it was just right.
This was also why Zheng Fa chose this city; with more people, it would be easier to accumulate heavenly merit.
Thinking this way, he began to understand why those cultivators with smaller sealed lands looked at him with such envy.
As for controlling rain and wind, adjusting yin and yang, and promoting agriculture and sericulture...
Sorry, that's beyond my capabilities!
...
Finally, night fell.
No one came to worship at this hour.
Only a young girl remained; she closed the temple door and tidied up the floor.
Then she took out a dark, rough cloth and wiped down the offering table and the base of the statue.
Zheng Fa looked at the girl, unable to discern her age.
From her face, she seemed to be around seventeen or eighteen.
But her stature made her look like she was only thirteen or fourteen—she was exceedingly small.
Was this really his temple keeper?
Wasn't she a bit too young?
After finishing her cleaning, the girl put away the cloth, bowed sincerely to Zheng Fa, and murmured:
"Thunder God, I'm about to eat your offerings! If you don't agree, then show your spirit!"
Zheng Fa was taken aback.
He then heard the girl say, "You agree? Thank you, Thunder God!"
Zheng Fa watched as the girl happily grabbed a few unknown fruits from the offering table and stuffed them into her mouth—these were also offerings from the faithful, but it seemed they weren't from today—no one had brought fruits today.
Instead, it appeared these were secretly saved by the girl.
"Thunder God," she said between bites, "if you don't show your spirit soon, no one will bring fruits, and I'll starve to death..."
"..."
"If I starve to death, there won't be anyone left in this city willing to clean for you!"
As she spoke, the girl's tone took on a hint of "Thunder God, you figure it out."
"Um..."
With a thought, a majestic voice suddenly echoed in the temple.
The girl jumped in fright and looked up at the statue where Zheng Fa was.
She seemed to remember her earlier slightly disrespectful words, and her face turned pale with fear.
After a moment of hesitation, she continued chewing on the wild fruit quickly.
Though she didn't speak, Zheng Fa could hear her thoughts:
"Just a glutton!"
Seeing that Zheng Fa didn't seem angry, the girl cautiously approached the statue, tilted her head, and whispered, "Thunder God, are you still there?"
"..."
Zheng Fa remained silent, and the girl's expression turned puzzled, ultimately concluding that she must have imagined it.
...
After spending a month in the Tianbei world, Zheng Fa suddenly felt a force push him, and when he regained his senses, he found himself outside the Tianbei.
He walked out.
Sister Zhang and Sister Yuan were waiting for him at the spot.
When she saw him emerge, Sister Zhang smiled faintly.
"Junior Brother, how was it inside?"
Zheng Fa recounted his experiences, and Sister Zhang slowly furrowed her brow, seemingly contemplating the implications: "Is this to pursue the Dao through thunder techniques?"
Upon hearing Sister Zhang's words, Zheng Fa turned to look at the Tianbei—was this its true purpose?
"Sister, I have an idea..." Zheng Fa began to discuss another matter.
"Mm?"
"If this Tianbei were to fall into the hands of others, that would be one thing, but if it could be controlled by our Jiushan Sect..." Zheng Fa said softly, "the spiritual energy inside is abundant, and the rules are unique..."
"You mean..." Sister Zhang's eyes lit up.
"I was thinking that if a great calamity were to come in the future, and spiritual opportunities dwindled, this place might serve as a retreat for our Jiushan Sect." Zheng Fa's eyes sparkled; he didn't know if others shared this sentiment, but the more he learned about the Tianbei world, the more he felt that, compared to those spiritual materials, this world itself was the greatest treasure.
Few people, but the spiritual energy was not lacking.
Most importantly, although other spells couldn't be used, cultivation was not hindered.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 196: Ejection
Zheng Fa had never been a person with a strong sense of security—or rather, he found little security in the Xuanwei Realm.
If it weren't for the comparison with modern society, this feeling might have been a bit better. To be honest, the sense of security he felt in the modern world was built step by step, with the ten foundational talismans in his dantian being the reason for his growing confidence.
But in the Xuanwei Realm, Jiushan Sect was different.
His foundational talismans and cultivation did not provide him with any real comfort.
Zheng Fa believed that everyone in Jiushan Sect was willing to stand by his side, but wasn't there still the entire Dazizai Demon Sect standing against him?
Currently, Jiushan Sect could withstand the Dazizai Demon Sect purely because they had fortuitously encountered a Thunder Pool.
Because of this, he constantly thought of his mother and sister, yet he was reluctant to bring them over at this time—Jiushan Sect was too far, and the Thunder Pool market was too close to the Dazizai Demon Sect.
He felt that if his vision for the Tianbei world could come to fruition, he would finally have a secure base, and many of his envisioned plans could begin to take shape.
"You came up with this idea because of the Dazizai Demon Sect's secret realm, didn't you?"
Sister Zhang pondered for a moment before speaking.
"Yes, the Remnant Sun Sword Immortal hinted at it vaguely, but my visit to the Tianbei world led me to some speculation. If only the spells of the Dazizai Demon Sect work in their secret realm..."
Before Zheng Fa could finish his sentence, both Sister Zhang and Sister Yuan's faces turned pale with shock.
They even felt a bit nauseated.
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