In just a few breaths, the rice turned the barren farmland into a swaying sea of gold.
The heavy ears of grain bent under their own weight, undulating like waves in the evening breeze, making a continuous rustling sound.
Fan Miaozhen's eyes widened. It took her a long while to find her voice. “Is this... is this real rice?”
She slowly crouched down, reaching out a hand toward an ear of grain. Her fingertips brushed against the plump, hard husks.
Standing beside her, Shen Yu murmured, “Instantly ripening the grain to bring a bountiful harvest... such great power can only belong to the Divine Lady. She is always looking out for the common people.”
As he spoke, he unconsciously clenched his sleeves, his eyes fixed on the golden rice fields that continued to expand.
Feng Chunya looked toward the city. “Just now, all that golden light came from the small temple inside. Could the Divine Lady have descended right inside that temple?”
“Did Wuling City build a Divine Lady Temple so quickly?” Fang Shuo looked at Feng Chunya with curiosity.
He was among the earliest group of people to follow the Divine Lady, so he knew that whenever her believers pacified a city, they would build a Divine Lady Temple there to show their reverence.
“No,” Feng Chunya shook her head. “There is no Divine Lady Temple in Wuling City. There is only a small temple dedicated to a mountain god. Although it's dilapidated, it barely keeps out the wind and rain. The elderly and disabled in the city live there.”
“Let's go see,” Shen Yu said.
Upon hearing this, everyone mounted their horses.
...
On the other side.
Shitou and several other young men ran outside the temple. The ruined city walls could not block their view. Looking at the vast stretches of rice fields outside the city, they knelt on the ground, knocking their foreheads heavily against the mud. Crying and laughing, they shouted, “The rice! The rice has grown! We're saved!”
Uncle Zhou collapsed on the temple floor, old tears streaming down his face. His withered hands tightly gripped the doorframe as he stared at the brilliant gold outside. His lips trembled, and only after a long moment did he manage to squeeze out a sentence: “The Divine Lady really... really brought our barren fields back to life...”
The row of elderly people in the temple also struggled to stand up. Supporting one another, they walked out.
The golden rice fields were reflected in everyone's eyes.
[Fan Miaozhen's Shock Value +100]
[Uncle Zhou's Shock Value +100]
[Shitou's Shock Value +100]
[...]
[Current Shock Value: 68,500,000]
“The Divine Lady is merciful...”
The weeping and expressions of gratitude from the crowd merged into one.
The Divine Lady paid no heed to the bows of Uncle Zhou and the others. She slowly stepped down from where the clay statue had been.
As her wide sleeves swept gently across the ground, a wave-like flowing light spread silently. Wherever it passed, the stones in the soil dissolved entirely, turning into flat, fine, fertile earth.
She walked toward the temple gates.
The crowd instinctively stepped aside to make a path.
The Divine Lady stopped on the city's main road, quietly gazing at the ruined Wuling City. Then, she raised her hand.
An exquisitely beautiful brush appeared in her hand.
Its shaft shimmered with a pale green light, and the bristles of the brush faintly gleamed with silver in the twilight.
Holding the brush, she swept it through the empty air, leaving behind strokes of pale gold ink. Stroke by stroke, the ink remained suspended without dispersing.
“May every resident have a home, and every traveler have a path.”
As the final stroke of the last word fell, the golden light flared.
The characters seemed to come alive. In an instant, they transformed into countless golden particles of light, scattering in all directions.
The light fell upon the houses ruined by the flood. The broken walls and collapsed structures pulled back together at a speed visible to the naked eye. Rotting beams and pillars miraculously became as good as new, and fallen clay bricks stacked themselves back into walls, capped with green roof tiles.
The lanterns hanging under the eaves of every household lit up once more with a warm yellow glow, the carvings on the doors and windows becoming clear and fresh.
On the city roads, all mud and filth washed away, leaving the surfaces unprecedentedly flat and clean.
The entire Wuling City seemed to have been refurbished by an invisible hand. In the blink of an eye, the houses stood in neat order, and even the damp, fishy smell left by the flood vanished completely, leaving only the scent of fresh vegetation mingled with the aroma of rice.
The people stood dazed, looking at the houses, the fields full of rice, and then at the Divine Lady not far away. Each of them gaped, too shocked to speak.
[Fan Miaozhen's Shock Value +100]
[Uncle Zhou's Shock Value +100]
[Shitou's Shock Value +100]
[...]
[Current Shock Value: 75,600,000]
It wasn't just the commoners of Wuling, who hadn't witnessed many miracles, who were shocked by everything happening before them; even Shen Yu and his companions were deeply astounded by this miraculous transformation of decay into wonder.
The Divine Lady's spells always felt fresh no matter how many times they saw them, and she managed to exceed their expectations every single time.
They couldn't help but sigh with emotion in their hearts.
Shen Yu was the first to snap out of it. He spoke up to remind them, “Don't just stand there. We should go pay our respects to the Divine Lady.”
The others hurriedly followed.
They quickly walked down the newly paved main road. The stone slabs beneath their feet were smooth, and the houses on both sides looked brand new.
Yet at this moment, no one had the mind to look around. Their eyes were all fixed on the pale gold figure ahead.
The Divine Lady had not left.
She stood beneath an old tree at the end of the main road, her wide sleeves hanging down, still holding the pale green brush in her hand.
Shen Yu approached her and adjusted his robes and crown.
Then, pulling up the hem of his robe, he solemnly knelt and bowed. “Shen Yu pays respects to the Divine Lady. Wuling City's disaster has been resolved, and the commoners have escaped death, all thanks to Your Ladyship's benevolence.”
“We mortals are insignificant and have no way to repay you. We are only willing to grind our bones and shed our blood to repay even a fraction of Your Ladyship's grace.”
His voice was clear and resonant, every word carrying immense weight.
Behind him, Feng Chunya immediately dropped to one knee, her armor clanking as she pressed her right fist against her chest.
This was a military salute used when meeting a commander-in-chief. Though used before the Divine Lady now, it did not seem out of place at all.
“Feng Chunya pays respects to the Divine Lady!”
Further back.
The soldiers of the Zhenbei Army knelt on the ground with a loud clatter, the metallic clanging of their armor echoing continuously.
The commoners of Wuling City also poured out from various alleyways in a dense crowd, completely filling the main road.
Everyone raised their heads to look at the Divine Lady.
The twilight cast a warm, pale gold outline around the Divine Lady's figure. Her face was obscured by the halo, making it hard to see her features clearly, yet it brought everyone an inexplicable sense of peace.
The Divine Lady's gaze slowly swept over the crowd.
“Rise and speak.”
Though her voice was not loud, it fell clearly into the ears of everyone in the city.
Shen Yu stood up as bidden, keeping his hands at his sides. The excitement on his face had long been replaced by calm.
Feng Chunya also stood up, keeping her head slightly lowered, not daring to look directly at the Divine Lady.
The Divine Lady looked at the newly refurbished houses, her tone as calm as if she were stating an extremely ordinary matter.
“Wuling City is now at peace, but the realm is not.”
“Feng Chunya, Pei Du, you two shall accompany me to take the imperial city of the Yong Dynasty directly and bring an end to this chaotic world.”
Shen Yu's heart trembled.
He had followed the Divine Lady for more than just a day or two. In the past, she had no intention of intervening in the rise and fall of the mortal realm, but this time, she was personally leading her followers to march directly on the imperial city of the Yong Dynasty.
Such an anomaly meant something major must have happened!
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