Chapter 219
In fact, nowadays, as he frequently summoned heavenly tribulations, those people probably recalled the majesty of the Thunder God and were preparing to rebuild his temple. But considering the productivity of the Tianbei Realm, Zheng Fa stopped them.
This group of people had trouble even eating; asking them to carry stones to repair a temple was simply against Zheng Fa's principles.
As a result, the only temple he could settle in was the one in Banshan City.
Upon returning to Banshan City, Zheng Fa immediately sensed something was off...
The area in front of the temple was quite lively.
Xiao Qing stood at the center, surrounded by several elderly men, and it seemed like the entire city had gathered.
These elderly men were not actually that old, probably around thirty, but they appeared aged.
Zheng Fa recognized them—these were the good people he had previously asked Xiao Qing to reward.
He remained silent, listening to what they were doing.
Before long, he understood.
Xiao Qing and these men seemed to be organizing the labor of the people in Banshan City, deciding how many would go to the mountains to gather resources and how many would go to the river to fish.
Most of those left in the city were women, and Xiao Qing was also coordinating weaving and sewing.
It was clear that Xiao Qing was a bit nervous, but with the help of these men, things were running smoothly.
Zheng Fa understood—after he had eliminated the Pile Thunder Sect, a huge power vacuum had emerged in Banshan City.
As his temple keeper, Xiao Qing had effortlessly gained the authority to command the entire city.
Thinking of this, he watched Xiao Qing's actions with interest, while also questioning whether she could maintain her true intentions.
Once the task assignments were completed, he heard Xiao Qing say:
"Whatever you gather from the mountains, catch from the rivers, or weave, bring it to the temple, and I will distribute it."
Zheng Fa silently frowned.
"The Thunder God has said he does not require offerings!" Xiao Qing continued, "Doing good is an offering to the gods! We will distribute fairly!"
Zheng Fa's frown eased a little.
"Because the Thunder God favors the elderly! We will distribute according to age!"
Zheng Fa was taken aback... What did that mean?
I love old folks?
How did she know?
No, how is she spreading rumors?
Zheng Fa glanced at the elderly men beside Xiao Qing... After a moment, he began to understand why Xiao Qing had this idea:
When he had asked her to offer tributes to these good people, he hadn't explained why—
But it just so happened that in Banshan City, those who could do good were mostly men with some power.
Accumulating good deeds also required time.
Thus, these men were all elderly in Banshan City...
While he pondered, Zheng Fa noticed that the heavenly merit points on the divine record had quietly increased by a few.
"Hmm?"
He hadn't summoned any heavenly tribulations, so where did these merit points come from?
Zheng Fa couldn't help but look outside at Xiao Qing.
Xiao Qing had also dismissed the crowd and walked alone into the temple.
She leaned against the offering table, looking quite tired, and let out a long sigh.
"What was that all about?"
Zheng Fa's voice rang out, causing Xiao Qing to suddenly look up: "Thunder God, you're back again?"
"Yes, why do those people listen to you?"
Zheng Fa had never noticed that Xiao Qing had such thoughts before.
"I don't know..." Xiao Qing sighed and complained, "After the Pile Thunder Sect was gone, everyone started arguing over the river again, and then they fought over the mountain goods... They all came to me for a decision."
"I thought, since you value those elderly gentlemen, I would ask them. They told me it would be better to let everyone go together and then distribute the goods afterward, saying that right now, only I have the ability to earn everyone's trust."
"Thunder God, did I do something wrong?"
Xiao Qing asked, a bit apprehensive.
Zheng Fa thought for a moment and understood the problem—while the Pile Thunder Sect had established a certain order, albeit a flawed one, it was still clear.
With the Pile Thunder Sect gone, Banshan City had fallen into chaos.
As for Xiao Qing's approach, it certainly had its issues, but it also represented a relatively peaceful new order.
"You say I favor the elderly..." "Don't you?" Xiao Qing asked, puzzled. "If it weren't for you, some of the elderly in the city would starve or simply leave the city alone..."
"..."
Zheng Fa began to understand how those merit points had come about.
The resources in Banshan City had led to a situation where the place had not even developed a custom of respecting the elderly—instead, it resembled a pack of beasts that would abandon the weak and the old.
"Maybe so."
Zheng Fa took a long time to respond, mainly because the standards for judging the elderly here were too low, wasting too many lives.
"I knew I wasn't wrong!"
Xiao Qing said triumphantly.
"..."
Zheng Fa looked at Xiao Qing; she seemed a bit fuller than before, radiating a youthful vitality.
He hadn't expected that this girl had unwittingly established a rudimentary form of a religious sect.
Of course, he did not agree with the core doctrine of loving the elderly...
...
In the heavenly palace of the Tianbei Realm.
As Zheng Fa walked, he contemplated the matter of the sect. He was reluctant to be any kind of deity; on one hand, he was a materialist cultivator with no yearning for divinity.
He discovered that there were great powers capable of writing the rules of heaven and earth, and what he thought was, "This person is so strong; how can I achieve what they have?"
Not bowing down to worship them as gods.
On the other hand, he was inherently averse to trouble...
If it weren't for all the disturbances, he would have preferred to stay in the sect, studying talismans and focusing on his cultivation.
Becoming a god to satisfy the demands of followers—Zheng Fa was unwilling.
The reason he hadn't stopped Xiao Qing was that the evildoers who could contribute merit points within his sealed land had mostly perished.
To gain heavenly merit, he had to find another way.
For instance, as Yan Wushuang had once said, either complete the tasks on the divine record, which required a higher mastery of thunder techniques, or ensure the prosperity of the people under his rule—this required better governance of the sealed land.
Xiao Qing's accidental actions had also earned him a few merit points.
Now, this model represented by Xiao Qing allowed Zheng Fa to see a solution that wouldn't burden him too much—
Having worldly people like Xiao Qing manage his subjects meant he wouldn't have to meet the various demands of his followers while still guiding them.
As for whether this would give Xiao Qing or others the chance to become corrupt:
He, as the god, held the final say...
Even this so-called religious sect, Zheng Fa was ready to abandon at any moment.
...
While thinking, Zheng Fa walked into the Treasure Hall.
He focused his divine sense on the jade disc, and five hundred merit points were deducted from the divine record, while a purple inner core of a thousand-year-old Yang Thunder Spider appeared in his hand.
With a thought, the divine record transformed into a stream of light that enveloped him, causing his body to vanish from the Treasure Hall.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a void, surrounded by darkness, with faint light shining from all directions.
This was the place where his physical body resided when his divine soul descended, seemingly an independent space, safer than the outside—this was also why Yan Wushuang said there wasn't much conflict in the Tianbei Realm.
Even if there were conflicts, once one entered the divine record, no one could do anything to you.
Naturally, everyone would avoid the trouble.
Zheng Fa held the inner core of the Yang Thunder Spider against his lower abdomen, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate according to the "Secret Method of the Heavenly Thunder Armor" passed down by his master.
The purple spiritual energy, crackling with electricity, flowed with his breath from the inner core into his nostrils and then descended into his dantian.
The silver sand grains in his dantian, which had been slowly rotating, suddenly began to spin rapidly as if stimulated.
At that moment, his dantian resembled a swirling nebula, spinning faster and faster!
On the surface of his body, a purple electric light appeared, manifesting the Heavenly Thunder Armor.
As the inner core of the thousand-year-old Yang Thunder Spider gradually depleted, the Heavenly Thunder Armor on Zheng Fa's body also began to take shape, shimmering with a brilliant purple light, resembling metal, and giving off a texture akin to chainmail from modern texts.
"The Heavenly Thunder Armor has been completed."
Yet Zheng Fa did not open his eyes.
His divine sense remained focused in his dantian—this time, absorbing the inner core of the Yang Thunder Spider not only allowed him to complete the Heavenly Thunder Armor but also directly finished the cultivation of the Thunder Field!
At this moment, the scattered spiritual sand in his dantian had gathered into one, forming a small Thunder Field, which looked like a square silver inkstone within his dantian.
For Zheng Fa, the increase in cultivation was not surprising—he was practically cultivating with all the spiritual materials from the Thunder Pool Market.
Even Senior Sister Zhang hadn't had such conditions back then.
Zheng Fa kept his eyes closed, and in his mind, he followed the next step of the "Divine Xiaos' True Thunder Method," slowly guiding the spiritual power into that Thunder Field, preparing to begin the cultivation of Thunder Seeds.
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