Chapter 218

In the Heavenly Stele Realm, in Banshan City.

Zheng Fa flipped through the divine registry in his hands, examining the Heavenly Merit points within.

Since the divine registry turned gold and his fief expanded fourfold, the heavenly tribulation lightning had harvested over a thousand more Heavenly Merit points.

Adding the remaining points from before, his divine registry now held nearly two thousand Heavenly Merit points.

Zheng Fa was confident that, aside from Xiao Qing, no one else in the Heavenly Stele Realm could catch up to him.

But now he faced a problem— as evildoers turned to ash one by one, the heavenly tribulation lightning was yielding fewer and fewer Heavenly Merit points.

To gain large amounts of Heavenly Merit points for exchanging spirit materials, he would likely need to rely on the Cloud-Rain Thunder or the Spirit Wood Thunder, or grow the population of his fief.

The Spirit Wood Thunder was still a mystery, but he had already figured out the Cloud-Rain Thunder in the modern world.

The three thunder arts—Moving Clouds, Spreading Rain, and Stopping Rain—each had their own difficulties.

Moving Clouds and Spreading Rain demanded extreme control over thunder arts; only by advancing further beyond the Divine Thunder Supreme Art could one truly regulate rainfall down to the millimeter.

But Stopping Rain was different—it relied on a high-energy laser, relying purely on brute force.

As long as his spiritual energy was sufficient, he could restore this world to a clear, blue sky!

Zheng Fa opened the divine registry and examined its tasks—he discovered that after the registry upgraded to gold, this page had changed too.

The task page of the divine registry had become a map—exactly matching the shape of his fief.

When he tapped his finger on it, the map displayed the cloud, rain, and lightning conditions for that area over the next month—just like a weather forecast.

But his weather forecast had to be realized by his own hands…

The divine registry could still evolve—Zheng Fa now deeply suspected it was mocking those beneath the Golden Registry, implying they could never master Cloud-Rain Thunder.

As he studied the divine registry, Seeing Xiao Qing suddenly walked in.

She had eaten well these past two months, growing two inches taller, her face now plump and rosy.

She now looked like a graceful fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl.

Much prettier than when Zheng Fa first met her.

But now she frowned, slowly walking beneath Zheng Fa's divine statue, kneeling reverently on the mat before bowing, then softly asking: "Lord Lei Shen?"

"What is it?"

Zheng Fa's voice echoed, and Seeing Xiao Qing's face lit up. "Lord Lei Shen, I'd like to ask—when will the thunder over the river below stop?"

"Hmm?"

Zheng Fa's spiritual sense swept out, and he immediately understood what Seeing Xiao Qing was asking.

Below Banshan City lay a river valley, rich in fish and shrimp, which had sustained tens of thousands of people in the city.

But for the past half-month, the valley had been drenched in torrential rain, with lightning snakes dancing wildly.

"Several people have already been struck dead; no one dares go fishing anymore," Seeing Xiao Qing said, frowning. "We've had to gather more mushrooms and bamboo shoots from the mountains, but it's simply not enough…"

After hearing Seeing Xiao Qing's words, Zheng Fa tapped his finger on the river valley and discovered that, according to the divine registry's plan, this area should have been mostly sunny over the past half-month.

Zheng Fa thought for a moment, then told Seeing Xiao Qing:

"Tell everyone in the city: go fishing in the valley three days from now."

"Three days from now?" Seeing Xiao Qing asked, puzzled, but Zheng Fa offered no further explanation.

…

"Sister Hong, here's your share for today—take it!"

Seeing Xiao Qing handed a small sack of mountain goods to a woman; Sister Hong took the cloth sack, peeked inside, nodded gratefully at Seeing Xiao Qing, and hurried home.

As soon as she pushed open the door, a fit of coughing came from inside.

"Baor's mother, you're back?"

A hoarse female voice, accompanied by coughing, spoke to her.

The woman speaking was an elderly woman.

Though only thirty years old, in Banshan City she was already considered "old."

The old woman sat before a crude loom, coughing as she wove cloth.

"Mother, you're sick—why aren't you resting?"

"I'm making clothes for Baor."

The old woman gazed fondly into the room, where a one-year-old boy was stumbling along the wall.

"I'll make them."

Sister Hong set down the sack, took out a clay pot, added water, and dumped all the mountain goods inside.

"No fish today?"

The old woman helped light the fire; seeing only mushrooms and the like, she asked.

"No, the thunder over the river is too fierce—no one dares go. Mother, bring down that dried fish hanging under the eaves; if we leave it out any longer, it'll spoil," Sister Hong thought for a moment. "It'll be good for your health."

"I'm past my prime—what's the point of nourishing me? Give it to Baor!" The old woman shuffled over, bringing the fish, muttering: "I told you I should've gone into the mountains—why did you even call me back?"

"Mother."

"You've kept my son's legacy alive, raised Baor—when I die, I'll bow to you in the afterlife," the old woman kept going. "Why did you even call me back?"

"Mother, Lord Lei Shen said the elderly get more food—you stay home, and both Baor and I benefit from your presence."

"Lord Lei Shen's meddling in idle matters…"

Sister Hong stared at the clay pot and whispered: "After you left that day, I felt the house was empty."

"…."

"Baor keeps looking for his grandmother."

The old woman glanced at the boy, then fell silent.

Sister Hong placed the dried fish into the clay pot and boiled it together.

This fish was not large; she offered it to her mother-in-law, but the mother-in-law could not bear to eat it herself, so in the end, she gave it to her son, Bao'er.

Bao'er also seemed reluctant to eat first; the piece of fish sat in his bowl, untouched.

Sister Hong followed his lead; after finishing her meal, she sat before the loom and began weaving.

Her mind was still on the fact that Bao'er had grown a bit taller; he needed new clothes, and they had to be made larger so he could wear them longer.

She glanced at Bao'er and saw him huddled with his grandmother, who was picking the fish bones out for him.

Sister Hong smiled, withdrew her gaze, and felt only hunger in her belly.

Since no one dared to fish, many people went to gather mountain goods.

But the mountain goods in the hills were limited; after half a month, the share each could get had dwindled significantly.

Bao'er needed to eat more to grow, and the mother-in-law needed to eat more to recover from her illness; she herself only needed enough for two people.

Suddenly, Bao'er's footsteps, now light and now heavy, reached her ears; before she could turn around, a piece of fish meat was stuffed into her mouth.

"Mother... Mother, eat fish!"

Bao'er's childish voice rang in her ears.

Sister Hong paused, turned her head, and saw Bao'er grinning foolishly at her, as if he had learned something new, while still saying:

"Mother gives to Grandma, Grandma gives to Bao'er, Bao'er gives to Mother."

Sister Hong slowly chewed the fish meat in her mouth.

She felt that even the creaking and groaning of the loom before her seemed to be smiling at her.

"There is still some fabric at home; after finishing Bao'er's, we should make a set for Lord Lei Shen as well," her mother-in-law suddenly said.

"Mother?"

"I don't even know what size Lord Lei Shen wears," her mother-in-law murmured.

Three days later.

Sister Hong was just preparing to go out.

Her mother-in-law stood at the doorway, blocking her path.

"Mother?"

"I will go today," her mother-in-law insisted. "If something happens to me, it is fine; Bao'er cannot be without a mother."

"Mother, your body..."

"It is fine!"

Her mother-in-law pushed her back inside the house.

Seeing Xiao Qing walked out of the temple.

In Half-Mountain City, with over ten thousand households, at least one person from every family stood before the temple.

They looked at Seeing Xiao Qing with various expressions.

There was confusion, disbelief, and anxiety.

"Can Seeing Xiao Qing really go fishing?"

"What exactly did Lord Lei Shen say?"

"Won't we be struck by lightning?"

Sister Hong's mother-in-law stood among the crowd, feeling uncertain herself.

She knew everyone's thoughts; previously, the Thunderbolt Sect had even taken over the fishing grounds.

Now, Lord Lei Shen was far better than that sect leader of the Thunderbolt Sect.

He not only asked for nothing to eat but also gave more to us old ones.

But...

Recently, lightning in the river valley had struck and killed many people.

Moreover, for this young Miss Seeing Xiao Qing to say that Lord Lei Shen told them to go fishing in the river valley was unheard of.

In their minds, the previous god even ate people!

She glanced around and saw that everyone nearby was an elder like herself.

It seemed everyone was still a bit afraid.

"Do you think Lord Lei Shen wants us to go because he intends for us to be sacrificial offerings?" she heard two people whispering beside her. "Perhaps Lord Lei Shen doesn't like offerings and likes to eat people instead?"

"What is there to fear? Without Lord Lei Shen, we would have died long ago," the person beside them said cheerfully.

"I'm just afraid this Lord likes them a bit fatter."

"..."

Sister Hong's mother-in-law paused, feeling that there was actually some logic to that.

"Then I am not afraid either," another person said. "Just because Lord struck down that group from the Thunderbolt Sect and avenged my daughter, being a sacrificial offering means nothing."

"..."

Sister Hong's mother-in-law also smiled, and suddenly she was no longer afraid.

Seeing Xiao Qing nodded to the crowd, said nothing, and simply led the way with the fishing net.

She now had some prestige; seeing her take the lead, everyone naturally followed her down the mountain.

They walked for a while and had not yet approached the river valley.

The rumbling sound of thunder reached everyone's ears.

After walking another half li, they saw streaks of heavenly lightning striking wildly by the river.

Many fish floated on the river surface, as if electrocuted to death.

Above the river valley, dark, heavy clouds hung low, even reaching halfway up the mountainside.

Everyone could not help but stop, all looking at Seeing Xiao Qing.

Seeing Xiao Qing set down the fishing net, turned around, bowed three times toward the temple, then stood up, raised her palm, and said:

"Lei Shen transmits his decree: within three days, the clouds here will disperse, the rain will cease, the wind will stop, and the thunder will scatter."

The moment her words fell.

A thick beam of light rose from the temple, illuminating the entire river valley.

Auntie Hong Jie felt a sudden brightness before her eyes; when she could see again, the sky above the river valley was unexpectedly clear and sunny.

Sunlight spilled onto the river surface, reflecting a golden glow.

Like everyone else, she stared blankly at Seeing Xiao Qing, unaware of when she had knelt upon the ground.

"For three days, you may fish in peace; this is Lei Shen's grace."

"We thank Lei Shen for his grace!"

Scattered voices merged into a torrent, carrying up to Half-Mountain City.

After waiting a while, everyone stood up, looked at one another, and then all ran toward the river valley.

Auntie Hong Jie paused, then secretly turned and ran up the mountain.

She must get Bao'er's mother to come along!

She ran panting up the mountain, occasionally looking back at the golden river channel, her eyes seeming to reflect the same light.