Chapter 204: True Brothers

After taking control of the Divine Edict, Zheng Fa could see the good and evil of those within the Heavenly Stele Realm.

Good people emitted a faint golden light; evil ones carried a tinge of blood aura.

To him, these burly men of the Thunder Sect were black-red with malice—he had no idea how many women's lives they'd taken, and even by the Divine Edict's judgment, they were great evildoers, deserving the punishment of being shattered to dust.

Those who rose to the core of the Thunder Sect were no fools; they scattered like birds and beasts. Zheng Fa spurred his spiritual soul, unleashing a dozen thunderbolts in rapid succession until his spiritual soul was nearly drained.

Several piles of black ash now littered the ground before the temple—left behind by those burly men.

Xiao Qing stood inside the temple, her face blank. She involuntarily turned to look at the statue within—the statue still had no facial features, yet now she felt as if a pair of eyes were watching her, her heart trembling with excited awe.

She gazed out toward the temple entrance.

Most of the Thunder Sect believers who had come to seize the temple had fled; those still standing were likely too terrified to move, kneeling on the ground, foreheads pressed to the soil, trembling as they bowed toward the temple.

The townspeople who had come to watch also knelt in a sea of prostrations—they were bolder than the Thunder Sect followers, some even lifting their eyes to peer into the temple.

Aside from Xiao Qing, not a single person remained standing; her small frame suddenly became the tallest in the entire town.

"Lord Thunder God?" she seemed unaccustomed to such a scene, bewildered, whispering: "What should we do now?"

Zheng Fa thought for a moment before speaking:

"Do good and worship me; commit evil and desecrate the divine. Now depart."

Hearing Zheng Fa's words, the crowd exchanged glances, wanting to enter the temple but too afraid—only silently retreating.

…

Banshan City fell completely silent for five days.

No—rather, apart from Zheng Fa's thunder, no one else in Banshan City dared step outside.

The main reason he hadn't killed all the burly men that day was his own limitation—he lacked sufficient spiritual soul and spiritual power; ten or so heavenly tribulation bolts per day was his absolute limit.

He wasn't in a hurry; he mentally drafted a schedule: ten thunderbolts per day, awarded to the lucky ones.

At first, the burly men hid in their homes, but the heavenly tribulation bolts were too powerful—even the thickest roofs offered no protection.

Some tried to flee Banshan City, but within a thousand li, all land belonged to Zheng Fa's domain—they had nowhere to run. To prevent accidents, Zheng Fa even made sure they didn't die unnoticed in some forgotten corner, occasionally giving them priority in the queue.

To be honest, Zheng Fa's days were rather dull—

Just thunder, recover, thunder, recover…

It felt like the grind of a wage slave.

But Xiao Qing's days were full of flavor—Zheng Fa didn't care about the faith of Banshan City's people, yet with ten heavenly bolts daily, their devotion to him grew ever stronger.

At first, only one or two bold souls dared enter the temple to worship.

Later, seeing those who went unharmed, more and more came.

Xiao Qing, seeing the temple flourish, smiled more each day.

Zheng Fa even felt— the more distant he acted, the more devout they became.

Only after studying their inner thoughts did he understand—they believed the Thunder God was angry.

They wanted to mend the broken mirror.

…

After nightfall, Xiao Qing stared at the full offerings on the altar, her eyes darting.

She no longer feared going hungry.

As the only person who could communicate with Zheng Fa, worshippers sometimes slipped her small gifts—nothing much, Banshan City was too poor—but enough to keep her half-full.

Yet the food given to her was of a lower grade than that offered to the Thunder God.

The altar held fish and meat, making her gaze linger hungrily.

"Want to eat?"

She suddenly heard the Thunder God speak.

"No! These are offerings to Lord Thunder God!" Xiao Qing shook her head frantically: "Not for me to consume!"

"Didn't you eat quite happily before?"

"..."

Zheng Fa saw Xiao Qing topple backward, her face filled with terror—as if she hadn't realized the Thunder God knew about this.

She stammered, clutching her temples as if fearing a thunderbolt would strike her dead.

Yet inside, she screamed: "This… this isn't the Thunder God truly manifesting, is it?"

Zheng Fa found it amusing but didn't care, continuing: "Eat."

Xiao Qing froze. "Eat?"

"Consider it my reward."

"Reward?" Xiao Qing lowered her hands, hopping to the altar's side: "Then… can I eat just a little?"

Zheng Fa had tested this before—he currently couldn't enter the mortal realm of the Heavenly Stele Realm; at least, he hadn't found a way in, only able to manifest through the Divine Edict.

The offerings on the altar were useless to him.

So he casually said: "Eat it all."

"A-all of it?"

Xiao Qing stared blankly at the altar, suddenly too afraid to move.

Zheng Fa said nothing more.

These past two days, he'd reflected on his attitude toward the Heavenly Stele Realm—it felt like a modern online game to him.

The tasks on the Divine Edict were like daily quests…

To him, the people of the Heavenly Stele Realm were merely NPCs.

He didn't wish to harm them, but he felt no real connection to them.

It was a true god's indifference.

He had no particular thoughts about Banshan City; toward the people of the Heavenly Stele Realm, he felt only mild pity—

Their worship brought him no honor.

He didn't even need incense or offerings.

Talking to Xiao Qing was partly to pass the time while recovering spiritual power, partly due to his stingy nature—he couldn't bear to see the offerings go to waste.

He remained silent, but Xiao Qing suddenly spoke again: "Can I… take these to others?"

"Hm?" "Banshan City… many are starving."

Zheng Fa looked at Xiao Qing, pausing briefly.

"Yes."

Xiao Qing gathered the food and hurried out.

Soon after, he heard a dense throng of footsteps at the temple entrance.

These were likely the poorest of Banshan City—their shadows on the ground looked like thin bamboo poles.

They clutched the food Xiao Qing had brought, bowing reverently to the ground.

Zheng Fa had done nothing at all.

Yet the fire in their eyes burned brighter than that of the Thunder Sect believers from days past.

…

A month later, Yan Wushuang and Chu Tianque stepped out of the Heavenly Stele.

He was listless, showing not a trace of joy.

"Elder Brother Yan, you must have gained great insight into the heavenly tribulation bolts—this time you earned thirty days of merit!" Chu Tianque said with a tone of congratulations.

"Mm."

Yan Wushuang replied, his expression uninterested.

"Then you're nearly gathered enough merit for the hundred-year Cloud Fruit in the Hundred Treasures Hall?"

Chu Tianque changed the subject.

"Mm."

"..."

Seeing him like this, Chu Tianque opened his mouth, glanced at Xue Shimei, the senior disciple of the Supreme Dao, and neither knew what to say.

Both knew why Yan Wushuang was like this—they'd even avoided mentioning her name along the way—but Yan Wushuang's expression…

"Lady Lingye has emerged!"

Yan Wushuang shuddered, snapping back to attention: "Where?"

"..."

Both Chu Tianque and Xue Shimei stared at him.

Yan Wushuang stared for a long while before realizing they were tricking him; his shoulders slumped, his face growing even more bitter.

"Elder Brother Yan, just one Lady Xiao… is it really worth this?"

Chu Tianque, seeing his behavior, felt a mix of frustration and pity.

"I don't want it!" Yan Wushuang said bitterly. "But don't you understand? If I were simply outmatched, I'd accept it—I Yan Wushuang have the heart for that… but I still don't even understand how Lady Lingye…!"

"..."

"It's just so infuriating," Yan Wushuang recalled. "I never told you this before, but Lady Xiao… she's probably so used to her good fortune, after obtaining the treasure in the Hanhai Desert, she said something to us…"

"What did she say?"

"She asked…" Yan Wushuang's expression twisted: "What were we even doing there…?"

"..."

Chu Tianque imagined the scene and finally understood why Yan Wushuang reacted to Lady Lingye as if she were a demon—his future demon would resemble Lady Xiao.

"To be honest, ever since Lady Lingye arrived, I've wanted to leave the Heavenly Stele already..." Yan Wushuang continued. "I can bear not getting the Heavenly Stele. But this Lady Lingye... I can't take her."

"That's not...," Chu Tianque frowned. "How could someone like this Xiao Immortaless remain unscathed?"

"When I returned home back then, I went straight to my father..." Yan Wushuang said.

"..."

"My father listened to my complaint and beat me up." Yan Wushuang's expression was one of utter helplessness.

"This person... has powerful connections?"

"Yes. She was long ago taken in by a reclusive master. Most importantly..." Yan Wushuang thought for a moment. "My father said her fortune is so great, she must possess immense destiny. He told me to treat her with respect from now on."

"..."

Chu Tianque also felt Yan Wushuang had been unlucky.

Being mocked and running to your parents is unbecoming, but worse is kicking a real iron plate.

"Since then, I've traveled far and wide..."

Only now did Chu Tianque understand why Yan Wushuang cared so much about this Lady Lingye—she had changed Yan's entire life.

"Sorry for making you two laugh."

"It's not just you, Yan Brother. Ever since Lady Lingye arrived, everyone outside who bets on our rankings has put all their money on her..." Chu Tianque still tried to comfort him. "They've all heard of this Immortaless's reputation."

The group reached the base of the Heavenly Stele. Yan Wushuang hung his head. "No need to look. Let's go."

But Chu Tianque remained resolute, still trying to reassure him: "Lady Lingye is new here. She naturally doesn't understand the situation yet..."

Yan Wushuang felt grateful, certain that his younger brother trusted him deeply—but he still firmly believed Lady Lingye was strange, and refused to look up at the rankings on the stele.

After a long silence, hearing no word from Chu Tianque, he grew even more despondent. "So I'm second now, right?"

"No," Chu Tianque's voice sounded dreamlike.

"Huh?" Yan Wushuang snapped his head up. "I'm still first?"

"Third..."

Hearing this, Yan Wushuang looked up at the top of the Heavenly Stele—he was third, but the first name was not "Xiao Yuying." It was a name he never expected:

Zheng Fa.

"Zheng Brother?" He stared blankly at the two characters, then burst into loud laughter. "I knew it—I knew Zheng Brother was the one!"

Beside him, Sister Xue asked: "Zheng Fa is first, and Yan Brother isn't even second... why are you so happy?"

"You don't understand. Zheng Brother has avenged me—my own father never did!"

"...", Sister Xue twitched her lips, thinking the sect leader's beating must've been too light. She turned back and saw Chu Tianque frozen in shock, as if unable to believe it.

"Chu Brother?" Sister Xue, the True Disciple, was puzzled. One is laughing, the other looks like he's about to cry.

"I... I bet all my spirit stones on Lady Xiao."

Yan Wushuang fell silent for a moment, glanced at the name Zheng Fa, then at Chu Tianque, and sighed: "Now I know who my true brother is."

(End of Chapter)