Chapter 199: Dispelling Disasters, Praying for Rain

In reality.

About a month ago, Lu Yuan had already completely stepped into the perfection of Refining Essence into Qi.

The reason he delayed for another month was mainly because he wanted to try and see if he could make a push to break through to the realm of Refining Qi into Spirit in one go.

As it turned out, his cultivation remained completely unmoved; even after repeatedly performing Nine Breaths Serving Qi, there was little effect, as if a huge, incomparably solid bottleneck had appeared in his cultivation.

Lu Yuan realized that while there were some factors involving the limitations of the Heaven and Earth environment, the more significant reason was his own insufficient foundation and lack of sedimentation.

Unlike Martial Arts practice, where one can always achieve results through step-by-step hard work and perseverance, the Guiding Technique is an Inner Elixir Dao method of immortal cultivation; cultivating for immortality is an act of going against Heaven, requiring long years and energy at every step to perceive Heaven and Earth and refine spiritual essence.

Even if an ordinary cultivator has outstanding talent and sufficient resources, they must go through decades of perception, tempering, and accumulation to reach the perfection of Refining Essence into Qi, yet Lu Yuan has only been officially cultivating for three years in total.

After asking for the direction, he did not take Chen Zhantang with him, but rode the light breeze alone to head straight there.

However, in the entire Archaeology Pavilion, apart from the Bronze Furnace, he could not find many records or objects related to the Ancient Qi Practitioners. He eventually walked out feeling dispirited, and half a day later, he received a report from Chen Zhantang that no murals related to the Yunluo Kingdom had been found in the sealed Scripture Hall of the Imperial City.

"This piece..."

After all, he would inevitably have to pursue the traces of the Ancient Qi Practitioners in the future, or even leave this world. And if there were no Food Consumption Technique to assist, no matter how talented Chen Zhantang was in this mundane world, he would likely only be able to linger at the introductory stage of Refining Essence into Qi and waste his life.

Lu Yuan immediately became interested:

"Shenzhou is currently flourishing, with industry and Western science developing with each passing day. Nowadays, not only can we independently manufacture Ironclad Warships and Steam Locomotives, but we have even begun to dabble in Steam Airships, and I believe there will soon be results."

Chen Zhantang immediately replied:

However.

Whoosh!

As the hand seals were completed, he suddenly waved his long sleeves, and immediately, a vast and invisible ripple, accompanied by specks of Dharma Power radiance like stars, surged toward the surroundings like a tsunami, covering a radius of several dozen miles in an instant.

After the old man finished his introduction, he could not help but ask:

Lu Yuan scanned with his eyes: "Which ones are they?"

These people were among the few civil officials and scholars in the New Nation who had studied the history and scripts of the Middle Ages and even more ancient Shenzhou, specializing in researching all the ancient artifacts, books, and even scripts sent to the Dao Palace. Lu Yuan took a brief look and responded with a smile:

"No need for formalities. I have come to see if there are any records or artifacts related to the ancient era among these things. How is your research going?"

Lu Yuan nodded slightly:

Under such circumstances, Lu Yuan's figure immediately descended from the high sky carrying radiance. The people who were killing locusts soon discovered him; they were first stunned in place, and then let out extremely excited shouts:

"Besides these ancient books, they have also discovered several places like ancient ruins in various regions and are currently arranging manpower to excavate and explore them. I believe the situation will be reported back soon."

"Master!?"

"We have also heard of some, but they have always been regarded as myths and legends, and have never been carefully verified. As far as this old man knows, the Jin Dynasty once discovered ruins of the Yunluo Kingdom in the area of Zhongyuan Prefecture three hundred years ago."

"This rubbing was collected from the common people. The pictures on it record the ancient ancestors of the tribe hunting beasts in the great wilderness and then offering sacrifices to Heaven. We judge that the mural being rubbed should come from the ruins of an ancient tribe, and we are still searching for where it specifically originated."

Having said that, he left in a hurry.

Although he had only just lit up this technique, with Lu Yuan's current cultivation at the perfection of Refining Essence into Qi, dealing with a mere locust plague was naturally not a problem. Thus, in just over ten breaths of time, eight or nine out of ten locusts ravaging this land fell to the ground, motionless, forming a thick carpet of insect corpses in the fields.

Entering the pavilion, one could see rows of wooden shelves inside, on which were placed a large number of broken stone slabs, pottery, sculptures, bronze ware, etc., which looked ancient and weathered at a glance.

Lu Yuan only tried it initially and understood that he still needed a long time of perception and accumulation of foundation to break through this step.

Lu Yuan immediately decided to go to Zhongyuan Prefecture in person to see the so-called Yunluo Kingdom ruins for himself.

"This, this..."

"Has there been any major news in Shenzhou during this period? How is the situation in each province? And are there any results regarding the matter I asked the disciples below to inquire about?"

"The Heavenly Master is merciful and saves us from suffering! Zhongyuan Prefecture has been suffering from drought for months and has now encountered a locust plague. Please, save us!"

Lu Yuan did not say much, but his figure slowly descended. The billions of locusts that were blocking the sky and sun seemed to have spirits and avoided him one after another. He then pinched hand seals and muttered to himself:

"The palm summons the time, to remove disease and disaster, go!"

"Long live, the Immortal is long live!"

Reaching the perfection of Refining Essence into Qi in such a short time, although his foundation was not unstable, it was still a bit short of breaking through to the next major realm.

Thousands of respectful shouts surged from the fields and the earth like a tsunami, but Lu Yuan did not stop his spellcasting. He saw his hand seals change, and he chanted:

After the perfection of Refining Essence into Qi, the most important step to break through to the realm of Refining Qi into Spirit is to condense the True Qi of the whole body into a Pill Embryo, and the Qi and Spirit combine to gestate the Primordial Spirit, just like a Foundation Establishment cultivator trying to break through to the Golden Core.

"Are those murals still there?"

"Only these? You are well-read in ancient history, do you know any legends about the Ancient Qi Practitioners?" The old man hesitated and said:

"We mortals, thank the Heavenly Master for his great kindness!"

Although he had not yet officially accepted Chen Zhantang as a disciple, the latter had always considered himself a disciple. Lu Yuan looked at him and immediately smiled:

"I summon the Water God, the walls give birth to rain. The Winnowing Basket and Leopard rise, the Neck Dragon dances. The Five Stars rise in the court, the Void dwells in the Pit place. The Uncle shakes the water, the Cow Gold A-Xiang girl. The Dog is the water essence, the Ghost Sheep gives birth to fire. Pour into the dantian, filling the sea islets. The Drought Demon takes shape, the Five Thunders are divine and martial. Quickly, quickly, like the law!"

"Immortal Master, it is the Supreme Saint Immortal Master!"

"Good, take me to see those ancient objects and books."

The old man led him into the Cabinet, where four wooden tables were placed, each with several broken and simple objects:

"Heavenly Master, please look. This broken pottery is engraved with Oracle Bone Script used only by the ancient ancestors of the tribe. Coupled with the fact that the place of excavation belongs to the territory of the ancient Feixiong Clan, it can basically be determined to be an ancient object from the ancient era. It is just unknown what method was used to fire it so that it could be preserved to this day. We judge that this was probably a rare treasure even ten thousand years ago."

"The disciple will go and have the disciples of the Heavenly Master Mansion search for it."

Under the governance of the Council, the people in most provinces can be said to have enough food and clothing. The situation in some remote and backward provinces is worse, and occasionally famines occur under natural disasters. The Council usually asks the disciples of the Heavenly Master Mansion to go and provide relief as soon as possible.

Lu Yuan had not seen the so-called Yunluo Kingdom murals when he was in the Scripture Hall. He frowned slightly and looked at Chen Zhantang, who immediately understood the implication:

Chen Zhantang showed no signs of complacency and said shamefully:

"The Food Consumption Technique passed down by the Master is extremely mysterious. Unfortunately, the disciple is dull and it took a long time to just get started. It is also thanks to the effect of this technique in refining the essence of all things that the disciple finally refined the first strand of True Qi a month ago."

Chen Zhantang did not say a word and led Lu Yuan to the Archaeology Pavilion specially established in the Dao Palace.

"Not bad, you are indeed a seed for cultivation. If you persevere, you can also achieve something on the Dao path."

Lu Yuan's words were an acknowledgment of his own cultivation. After hearing this, Chen Zhantang was extremely excited and said:

"Master is overpraising. The disciple is still far from it. In the future, I will definitely be more diligent and live up to your high expectations!"

When entering the territory of Zhongyuan Prefecture, Lu Yuan looked down from the high sky and found that the summer was scorching, and large tracts of farmland outside some county towns were desolate, the land cracked, as if they had suffered a drought.

Even worse was the locust plague following the extreme drought; outside a county seat where the drought was most severe, he discovered a massive swarm of locusts dancing in the fields, leaving not a blade of grass wherever they passed, while a multitude of farmers and even government bailiffs were sweating profusely as they attempted to catch and kill them, yet facing the vast, boundless numbers of locusts, it was like trying to put out a burning cart of firewood with a single cup of water.

Thousands upon thousands of commoners and government bailiffs, who had been desperately killing locusts just a moment ago, all stared at this scene, stunned like wooden chickens.

Zhongyuan Prefecture was once the ancient capital of several states and had a long history; it was only a little over three thousand li from Tianjing, and with Lu Yuan's current Dharma Power and cultivation, he arrived in less than an hour.

Amidst the boundless fields, thousands upon thousands of people knelt toward Lu Yuan, crying out like a mountain of calls and a sea of howls, praying as if drowning people had grasped their final straw.

"Oh?"

Because the material of this furnace was quite unique, it looked by no means like ordinary bronze, and most crucially, in terms of its form, this furnace was clearly an alchemy furnace!

An alchemy furnace that had weathered ten thousand years of vicissitudes—there was no need to even think that this was likely used by an Ancient Qi Practitioner; although it was already dilapidated and broken after the scouring of such a long time, when Lu Yuan's palm touched it, he still felt as if he had traveled through time and space, recalling the grand scenes of that era.

The leader, an old man wearing reading glasses, said tremblingly:

"The Heavenly Master has come! He heard our prayers and has come to save us!"

There were several other white-haired old men in the pavilion busy at work; the moment they saw Lu Yuan enter, they were all startled, hurriedly putting down what they were doing to greet him, and said with incomparable respect and awe:

The old man shook his head:

Lu Yuan nodded in approval:

Not only was this step time-consuming, laborious, and extremely difficult, but it also carried no small amount of danger; once failed, it could lead to a decline in cultivation or a deviation into a demonic state.

"Storing Qi and hiding the spirit—have you already cultivated True Qi?"

Half a year ago, after lighting up Nine Breaths Serving Qi, before entering seclusion, he had passed down the method of Refining Essence into Qi from the Guiding Technique, as well as 【Ingestion】 from the Earthly Fiend Arts, to Chen Zhantang.

【Earthly Fiend - Disaster Relief】: To relieve is to resolve; practicing this Dharma Technique can resolve worldly disasters, including but not limited to driving away locusts, curing illnesses, plagues, and so on.

"We pay our respects to the Supreme Heavenly Master."

As the incantation was chanted, an invisible ripple once again shrouded the space between Heaven and Earth, and immediately, everyone in the fields saw Lu Yuan's entire body blooming with the clear radiance of Dharma Power, while a mass of dark clouds suddenly formed in the high sky above his head, rapidly expanding and spreading; in just ten or so breaths of time, it had spread over ten-plus li, turning the scorching sun and clear, bright sky into a sky covered in dark clouds, as if Heaven itself were collapsing!

Boom—

Immediately following, muffled thunder rolled, shaking the four wildernesses, and then, tiny specks of fine rain descended from the sky amidst the dark clouds; at first, it was sparse like ox hair, but in just a few breaths, it became a torrential downpour, like water being poured from a basin!

In an instant, heavy rain shrouded the world, and the parched earth, having long suffered from drought, met sweet dew, thirstily absorbing the rainwater; the thousands of commoners and even bailiffs, all soaked to the bone, cheered and jumped for joy in the rain, their eyes brimming with hot tears.

"As for the matter you had us investigate, over the past half year, the disciples of the Heavenly Master Mansion have collected over a hundred ancient books and artifacts related to the Middle Ancient and Ancient eras from various places, and now they are all stored in the Archaeology Pavilion, waiting for your review."

After a full half-day, when almost no living locusts could be seen within sight, the thousands of figures in the fields finally seemed to wake from a dream, emitting cheers of wild joy and excitement:

Lu Yuan nodded with satisfaction:

Such an effect was naturally the result of the Earthly Fiend Art 【Disaster Relief】 that Lu Yuan had just lit up.

"We are saved, we are saved!"

His intention was to plant a seed of immortal cultivation in this world and observe how far it could eventually grow.

Lu Yuan continued to listen to several archaeology officials introduce the items in the pavilion, among which a largely decayed, uniquely shaped bronze furnace also aroused his intense interest.

"Answering the Heavenly Master, we have already conducted a careful verification; more than half of the things sent here are actually from the late Near Ancient and Middle Ancient eras, and there is another portion that is too broken and incomplete to identify; those that clearly involve the Ancient era are only a sparse few."

Following the old man's narration, Lu Yuan stepped forward to examine them one by one, discovering that these items were indeed more or less related to the Ancient era, but they did not involve the things he wanted to find.

"This state is said to be the first country established by the ancestors of Shenzhou in the Middle Ancient era, and among the ruins it left behind, there are several murals recording various strange powers and chaotic spirits, which seem to involve Ancient Qi Practitioners."

Just at this moment, a figure sprinted up the mountain path, and Chen Zhantang came before Lu Yuan to salute excitedly:

"Disciple respectfully welcomes Master out of seclusion!"

And under this mysterious and profound ripple, it was as if a deadly plague had spread rapidly; the billions of violently dancing locusts fell to the ground in patches, one by one, as if they had suddenly lost their lives, and millions upon millions of locust corpses fell like rain!

"The Heavenly Master may not know, but the Jin people are not human; after discovering these ruins, they only made rubbings of the murals and then destroyed them, fearing that the Han people would worship them. As for whether those rubbings were preserved afterward, it is unknown; in any case, we have never seen them, and we do not know if they are stored in the imperial palace."

Without a doubt.

In reality, even with the Ingestion Technique, the efficiency with which Chen Zhantang cultivated his first wisp of Dharma Power was far slower than his own had been at the beginning; after all, he had only given Chen Zhantang simple guidance on the Ingestion Technique, leaving him to grope his way forward entirely on his own, which could not compare to the direct empowerment and transmission of the Heavenly Book.

This sudden downpour of rain came from yet another Earthly Fiend Art that Lu Yuan had just lit up: Rain Prayer.

【Rain Prayer】: A technique for making rain; it summons wind and rain from all eight directions to bring down sweet dew, which can be used to resolve droughts or break the Supernatural Power of scorching sun.

The commoners and bailiffs in the fields were still cheering and expressing their gratitude, but Lu Yuan, having successively cast two techniques, only smiled slightly and rode a beam of immortal light, vanishing in an instant.