“The Divine... the Divine Lady's residence?”
Shen Ying was stunned for a moment. When she turned back to look at the magnificent palace on the sea, the curiosity in her eyes gradually transformed into deep reverence.
She had not seen the Divine Lady many times.
In the beginning, she had not understood why so many people loved and respected this Divine Lady, almost to the point of obsession.
It was only after she lived in Xindu City for a while and heard people everywhere talking about the Divine Lady's deeds—bestowing the Divine Seeds to save the commoners from famine, teaching them to grow cotton so they could ward off the cold, and opening academies so they could learn to read and write...
Furthermore, under the Divine Lady's protection, tens of millions of commoners across the six northern prefectures were able to live in peace, work happily, and multiply.
With a Divine Lady who loved all living beings so deeply, how could mortals not revere Her? They were willing to shed their blood and sacrifice their lives for Her, viewing Her as their sole faith in this lifetime, never to be betrayed!
“Second Brother, are we going to pay our respects to the Divine Lady?” Her voice softened involuntarily, as if she was afraid of disturbing something.
Fang Shuo also looked at Shen Yu. “Mr. Shen, we can't go pay our respects to the Divine Lady empty-handed, can we?”
The crowd fell silent, none of them bothering to respond to him.
Fang Shuo scratched his head awkwardly. Realizing that speaking up only exposed his lack of intelligence, he quickly shut his mouth and slipped into a corner, trying to minimize his presence as much as possible.
Shen Yu pondered for a moment, then looked back at the magnificent palace on the sea. “The Divine Lady possesses boundless divine power and can see through all things, past and present, with a single glance. If She wished to see us, She would naturally appear. Since She has not shown Herself, it means She does not wish to see us. Landing on the island to pay our respects uninvited might backfire and displease Her.”
Having said that, he bowed deeply toward the temple in the distance.
Seeing this, the others quickly bowed along with him.
As she straightened up, Fan Miaozhen could not help but steal another glance at the magnificent palace on the sea, her eyes filled with complex emotions.
That year, when the Zhenbei Army captured three cities of Liaodong Prefecture in quick succession, the Fan family had prepared to defend the last city, Xianghuan City, to the death. When the city gates were ultimately breached by the Zhenbei Army, they had all assumed that their stubborn resistance would lead to them being decapitated and their heads displayed to the public.
But it did not happen.
Not only did the Zhenbei Army not execute the Fan family, but they also treated them with courtesy, allowing them to continue their water transport business.
At first, everyone thought it was a case of the weasel paying respects to the hen—with malicious intent. But when they saw that with the help of the Zhenbei Army, the commoners received their own arable land and livelihoods, the streets became clean and orderly, academies cropped up one after another, and smiles gradually returned to everyone's faces, they finally realized their own narrow-mindedness. The Zhenbei Army's campaign in Liaodong Prefecture had never been for selfish desires, but to restore a peaceful world to the common people.
Although she had never met the Divine Lady, she could infer the whole from a single detail.
To be able to raise such an ever-victorious army and become their unshakable conviction, one could only imagine what a great existence that Divine Lady was. If she were destined to meet Her even once, it would truly be the greatest blessing of her life!
As if heaven had heard her prayer, a refreshing, fragrant breeze swept across the sea out of nowhere.
Immediately after, the sky filled with glowing clouds of red, orange, gold, and purple, painting both the sky and the sea in a holy light.
Where the glowing clouds were thickest, the doors of the central high pavilion of that extraordinarily magnificent temple slowly swung open.
First, a blinding white light burst from within the doors, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. Gradually, the light began to soften.
The Divine Lady stepped out of the light, cradling a gold and jade pipa. With Her toes lightly tapping the void, She walked forward atop the endless glowing clouds.
The Nine-Colored Lotus Seat materialized beneath Her feet.
The lotus seat was made of no ordinary material; it was finely ground from lapis lazuli and cinnabar, as lustrous as jade and as clear as colored glass, surrounded by illusory lotus flowers and the auspicious glow of the Nine-Colored Deer.
She wore an immortal robe in the style of the Dunhuang Flying Apsaras, with a blue-green silk shawl draped over Her shoulders and vermilion ribbons hanging down both sides of Her wide sleeves. Strings of pearls, jade, and necklaces wrapped around Her, making Her look both luxurious and ethereal.
Two long silk ribbons, one crimson and one green, trailed from Her arms to the ground, the tiny gold bells at their ends chiming like Sanskrit chants with Her every step.
A lotus flower was painted between Her brows with cinnabar and gold powder, flowing with Buddhist light, solemn yet brimming with compassion.
Behind Her, three rings of precious light emerged one after another.
Golden light, silver radiance, and purple energy intertwined and reflected off one another.
【Shen Ying Shock Value +100】
【Lu Sui Shock Value +100】
【Fan Miaozhen Shock Value +100】
【...】
【Current Shock Value: 68,880,000】
By the time everyone recovered from their shock, they had all knelt down in unison. It was the instinctive submission of mortals facing a deity of overwhelming majesty.
“We welcome the Divine Lady!”
The Divine Lady stood quietly atop the Nine-Colored Lotus Seat, suspended between the sea and the sky, Her expression solemn and holy. Behind Her was a sky full of glowing clouds, beneath Her feet were vast blue waves, standing independent and aloof from the mortal world.
Her eyes, reflecting the sun, moon, and stars, slowly lowered. Piercing through the vast sea mist, Her gaze fell upon Shen Yu, Shen Ying, Fan Miaozhen, Lu Sui, Fang Shuo, and everyone else on the ship looking up at Her.
Though they were so far apart, every single person on the ship felt that She was looking directly at them.
Atop the Nine-Colored Lotus Seat, the Divine Lady parted Her ruby lips. Her voice sounded like shattered jade falling onto an ice platter, each word carrying an ethereal echo.
“To meet is fate. Since such is the will of heaven, I shall naturally follow it and send you on your way.”
Everyone was taken aback at first, then exchanged glances.
Lu Sui leaned toward Shen Yu and whispered, “Does the Divine Lady mean to send us to Wuling Prefecture?”
Shen Yu lowered his gaze in thought. “Perhaps because the situation in Wuling Prefecture is more severe than we anticipated.”
“M-Mr. Shen... then can I...”
Fang Shuo wanted to ask if he could choose not to go to Wuling Prefecture, but meeting Shen Yu's gaze, he immediately changed his tune. “I meant to ask, is there anything I can do to help?”
Just as he finished asking, the glowing clouds across the sky began to churn.
The Divine Lady lowered Her eyes, Her fingertips lightly brushing the gold and jade pipa.
At that moment, the world seemed to fall completely silent.
Zheng—
The sound of the string was no ordinary pipa note, but a clear chime condensed from thousands of Buddhist chants.
Tiny Sanskrit characters leaped from the strings, turning into visible golden ripples that spread outward in concentric circles.
The air filled with the pure fragrance of sandalwood and lotus.
The sea breeze suddenly ceased, and the waves froze mid-air, each droplet of water refracting the seven colors of the glowing clouds.
Everyone on the ship felt the world spin around them.
In the next second, the hull of the ship was lifted by an invisible force, carrying both the ship and its passengers straight into the brightest part of the glowing clouds at the edge of the sky.
When they opened their eyes again, the ship had sailed into a completely different world.
Fang Shuo could not help but cry out in surprise.
“Look up there, quick!”
Hearing this, everyone raised their heads to look up.
There, they saw that all four walls were covered with continuous murals of flying apsaras. Boundless and infinite, countless Bodhisattvas, musicians, lotuses, and auspicious clouds were layered upon one another.
Under their unblinking gazes, those murals seemed to come to life, their robes and ribbons fluttering in the wind.
Some held konghous, while others scattered flower petals, looking down with smiling eyes at them, the tiny mortals below.
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