Chapter 210: Cultivated Wrongly

Zheng Fa looked at his Divine Register and felt a pang of regret:

The heavenly merit on the Divine Register had already reached nine hundred and twenty-three, but he'd only used up half of the heavenly tribulation thunder talismans in his storage pouch…

He now suspected he might be surpassed by Lady Lingye.

The main problem was there weren't enough evil people!

Although Zheng Fa's fief was vast, its population was truly small.

Altogether, it was less than five hundred thousand.

Banshan City alone accounted for over one-tenth.

Other regions had towns too, but none came close to Banshan City in population—even many settlements lacked temples.

Without a temple, Zheng Fa couldn't even connect with his physical body, let alone use heavenly tribulation thunder talismans.

As a result, the number of evil people he could strike was even more limited.

But Lady Lingye had the Golden Register…

Thinking of this, Zheng Fa began to doubt himself.

With no evil people left, Zheng Fa decided to return to Banshan City first.

The reason was simple: compared to Banshan City, other places' temples, even if they still stood, were long since ruined, for the Thunder God had long vanished.

Not even the temple attendants remained—the interiors couldn't even be lived in.

At this moment, he remembered how good Xiao Qing was—she at least swept the temple daily.

In truth, his frequent descent of heavenly tribulation thunder had likely reminded people of the Thunder God's majesty, and they were preparing to rebuild his temples—but thinking of Tianbei Realm's productivity, Zheng Fa stopped them.

These people barely had enough to eat; making them haul stones to build temples went against Zheng Fa's principles.

Thus, the only temple he could use was the one in Banshan City.

Upon returning to Banshan City, Zheng Fa sensed something was off…

The temple front was bustling.

Xiao Qing stood at the center, several old men beside her; nearly the entire city had gathered.

Those old men weren't truly old—around thirty—but they looked worn out.

Zheng Fa knew them well—they were the virtuous people he had once instructed Xiao Qing to reward.

Zheng Fa said nothing, listening to what they were doing.

Soon, he understood.

Xiao Qing and the men were organizing labor: assigning who would gather mountain goods, who would fish by the river.

Those left in the city were mostly women; Xiao Qing assigned them to weave and sew clothes.

Clearly, Xiao Qing was nervous, but with the help of these men, no mistakes were made.

Zheng Fa understood now—

With the Thunder Sect gone, Banshan City had fallen into a massive power vacuum.

As his temple attendant, Xiao Qing had effortlessly gained the authority to command the entire city.

Thinking of this, he watched her actions with interest, yet also wondered whether she could hold onto her original heart.

When the assignments ended, he heard Xiao Qing say:

"When you gather mountain goods, catch fish, or weave clothes, bring them all to the temple—I will distribute them."

Zheng Fa silently frowned.

"The Thunder God said he needs no offerings!" Xiao Qing continued. "Doing good is worship! We will distribute fairly!"

Zheng Fa's frown eased slightly.

"Because the Thunder God favors the elderly most! We will distribute according to age!"

Zheng Fa froze… what did that mean?

I love old men?

How did she know that?

No—how did she make this up?

Zheng Fa looked at the men beside Xiao Qing… after a moment, he understood why she'd come to this idea:

When he'd once ordered her to deliver offerings to these virtuous men, he hadn't explained why—

But in Banshan City, those capable of virtue were mostly men with some strength.

Accumulating good deeds required time.

Thus, these men were all the old men of Banshan City…

As he pondered, Zheng Fa noticed the heavenly merit on his Divine Register quietly jumped up a few points.

"Hmm?"

He hadn't summoned heavenly tribulation thunder—where did this heavenly merit come from?

Zheng Fa turned his gaze to Xiao Qing outside.

Xiao Qing had dismissed the crowd and walked alone into the temple.

She slumped beside the altar, looking exhausted, letting out a long sigh.

"What was that all about?"

Zheng Fa's voice made Xiao Qing jerk her head up: "Thunder God, you're back?"

"Yes. Why do they listen to you?"

Zheng Fa had never noticed Xiao Qing had such ambitions.

"How should I know…" Xiao Qing sighed in complaint. "After the Thunder Sect vanished, people started fighting over river access, then over mountain goods… they all came to me for judgment."

I thought, since you favored those several grandfathers, I asked them for advice. They told me to have everyone go out together and redistribute upon return, saying I'm the only one in the city who can make everyone accept it.

"Thunder God, did I do something wrong?"

Xiao Qing asked nervously.

Zheng Fa thought it over and understood the issue—the Thunder Sect had been an order, however harsh, but it was clear.

With the Thunder Sect gone, Banshan City had plunged into chaos.

Xiao Qing's methods had many flaws, yet they formed a relatively peaceful new order.

"You say I favor the elderly…" "Isn't that true?" Xiao Qing asked, puzzled. "Without you, some elders in the city would have starved—or simply left alone…"

"…."

Zheng Fa now understood where those heavenly merit points had come from.

Banshan City's scarcity had prevented even the development of a tradition of respecting the elderly—it resembled a herd of beasts, abandoning the weak and old.

"I suppose so."

Zheng Fa replied after long thought—mainly because the local standard for "elderly" was far too low, wasting too many lives.

"I knew it!"

Xiao Qing beamed proudly.

"…."

Zheng Fa looked at Xiao Qing—she had grown fuller these past days, radiating the vitality of a young girl.

He hadn't expected this girl to accidentally forge the prototype of a religion.

Of course, the core doctrine of "loving old men" was something Zheng Fa did not accept…

…

In the Heavenly Palace of Tianbei Realm.

As Zheng Fa walked, he thought about the religion—he had no desire to be a god; on one hand, he was, well, a materialist cultivator with no reverence for deities.

When he discovered great beings could write cosmic laws, his thought was: "This person is powerful—how can I achieve such mastery?"

Not: "I shall bow down and worship them as a god."

On the other hand, he was inherently averse to trouble…

If not for all these disruptions, he'd have preferred staying in his sect studying talisman arts and cultivating properly.

Being a god to fulfill believers' demands—Zheng Fa refused.

His reason for not stopping Xiao Qing was simple: the evil people in his fief who could contribute heavenly merit were nearly all dead.

To gain heavenly merit, he needed another method.

For example, as Yan Wushuang had said: either complete the tasks listed on the Divine Register, requiring higher mastery of thunder arts;

Or encourage his subjects to multiply and thrive—requiring better governance of his fief.

Like Xiao Qing's accidental success, she'd already earned him a few heavenly merit points.

Now, Xiao Qing's model offered Zheng Fa a low-effort solution—

Ordinary people like Xiao Qing managed his subjects for him, so he needn't satisfy believers' demands while still guiding them.

As for whether this might corrupt Xiao Qing or others:

He, as god, held the final authority…

Even this so-called religion, Zheng Fa planned to abandon at any moment.

…

As he thought, Zheng Fa entered the Hundred Treasures Hall.

He tapped his spiritual sense against the jade tablet; five hundred heavenly merit points vanished from the Divine Register, and in his hand appeared a purple, thousand-year Yang Thunder Spider core.

Zheng Fa willed it—and the Divine Register became a streak of light, wrapping him, making his body vanish from the Hundred Treasures Hall.

When he opened his eyes again, he stood in empty void, darkness all around, yet faint light glowed from every direction.

This was where his physical body resided when his spiritual soul descended—seemingly an independent space, somewhat safer than the outside world—that was also why Yan Wushuang said there was little conflict within the Heaven Stele Realm.

Even if there was conflict, once you slipped into the Divine Record, no one could touch you.

Naturally, no one bothered.

Zheng Fa held the inner core of the Thunder Yang Spider, pressed it against his lower abdomen, closed his eyes, and cultivated according to the secret method of the Heavenly Net Thunder Armor passed down by his master.

Purple spiritual energy, crackling with lightning, entered his nostrils with his breath and sank downward into his dantian.

The silver granules within his dantian, which had been slowly rotating, now stirred as if shocked, beginning to spin at incredible speed.

His dantian now resembled a swirling nebula, spinning faster and faster!

Purple lightning, resembling vine armor, appeared on his skin—the manifestation of the Heavenly Net Thunder Armor.

As the thousand-year Yang Thunder Spider's core gradually depleted, the Heavenly Net Thunder Armor on Zheng Fa's body gradually took shape, glowing with a soft purple radiance, appearing more like metal, possessing the texture of chainmail described in modern texts.

The Heavenly Net Thunder Armor was completed.

Zheng Fa did not open his eyes.

His spiritual sense remained fixed within his dantian—this absorption of the thousand-year Yang Thunder Spider's core had not only completed the Heavenly Net Thunder Armor, but had also directly allowed him to complete the cultivation of the Thunder Field!

The scattered spiritual granules within his dantian had now coalesced into a single entity, forming a small Thunder Field that looked like a square silver inkstone within his dantian.

The increase in his cultivation base was no surprise to Zheng Fa—he had been cultivating almost entirely on the spiritual materials of the entire Lei Chi Marketplace.

Even Zhang Shijie never had such conditions.

Zheng Fa kept his eyes closed, following the next step of the Divine Thunder Sublime Method, slowly guiding spiritual power into the newly formed Thunder Field, preparing to begin the cultivation of the Thunder Seed.

At that moment, his entire body suddenly trembled—a faint shadow of a giant red tree appeared behind his head, flashed once, then dissolved into a streak of light that plunged into the newly formed Thunder Field!

Zheng Fa stared blankly as the red spiritual light sank into his own Thunder Field.

It seemed like a seed meeting fertile soil—instantly taking root, sprouting a slender red shoot without leaves.

Is this… the Qing Yang Dao Body?

Zheng Fa felt the movement within his body, and a sudden realization struck him…

Hadn't he just mocked it a moment ago, calling it useless, inferior to others' Magnetic Track Body—yet today, it actually stirred?

But…

Looking at the tender shoot in his dantian, Zheng Fa couldn't help but feel uneasy—what exactly had he conceived?

Had he somehow mispracticed the Divine Thunder Sublime Method?

…

As the tender shoot took form, the central hall's door in the Tiangong of the Heaven Stele Realm, long sealed, suddenly swung wide open!

The twenty-four faceless statues in the side halls slowly bowed their heads, as if paying homage to something.

(End of Chapter)