Chapter 223.2: Blue Star’s Extreme Weather
Her position as the acting Heavenly Dao was clearly having some influence on her. Although she had no intention of staying on Fallen Heaven Star for long, the planet’s native inhabitants had nevertheless begun to occupy a small place in Cheng Qisheng’s heart.
Roughly equivalent to one-thousandth of an Old Eighth, perhaps.
And when she considered that if the Heavenly Demon succeeded, the mission to reconstruct the Heavenly Dao would fail, rendering all the hard work Old Eighth had put in completely meaningless, she became even more annoyed.
Not only would she fail to obtain the rewards for completing the world mission, but with everyone dead, there would also be no faith power left to gather. That meant she wouldn’t be able to obtain much of a divine kingdom, either.
The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to give that Heavenly Demon a thorough beating.
If they couldn’t find the Heavenly Demon itself, beating up its subordinates would do just as well. Perhaps they could follow the trail and track it down that way.
Cheng Qisheng took another sip of fruit juice and turned her attention to Fallen Heaven Star.
The Blue Sea residents were busy going around “collecting trash.”
Yes, that meant the corpses of demonic beasts that had been controlled by the demons.
The discovery that the giant sea turtle had actually contained a soul inside its body had greatly excited the people of Blue Sea.
Considering that practically everyone was currently working three jobs at Luofeng Youdu Office, these demon beast souls, which came with cultivation bases of their own, practically had a huge stamp on their foreheads that read: HELP WANTED.
They planned to collect all the demon beast corpses and bring them back to Youdu, to see whether they could extract even more souls from them.
The ten-thousand-year-old Mystic Tortoise’s soul floated nearby, not daring to utter a single word.
It wasn’t until a deity flew over and addressed it:
“You have suffered such a terrible calamity through no fault of your own. How pitiful. Come, let me take you to Youdu. I’ll find you an official position there, so that all those years of cultivation won’t have gone to waste.”
The speaker was none other than Qian Heng. In fact, she had only just learned from the demons that this enormous sea turtle was actually a Mystic Tortoise.
But since it had grown so incredibly large, it must have spent many years cultivating. There was certainly no harm in first persuading it to come along.
Upon hearing these words, the Mystic Tortoise immediately shed several enormous tears, each as large as a washbasin, proving through firsthand demonstration that souls really could cry.
Its voice was practically choked with gratitude.
“Thank you, Divine Lord! You saved me from the demons. From this day forward, I, your humble little tortoise, shall follow your every command!”
—In truth, it had simply assessed the difference in strength between them and concluded that it had absolutely no chance of winning a fight.
If it still had its physical body, it might have been able to escape. But now that only its soul remained, the Mystic Tortoise had lost its greatest advantage.
These deities clearly had the power to kill it, yet they hadn’t done so. Instead, they were offering it a position. Naturally, the sensible thing to do was to accept their invitation and go along with it.
With so many deities gathered here, there was undoubtedly a powerful organization backing them.
Even if it ended up serving as someone’s mount or personal servant, that wouldn’t be such a bad deal.
Out on the sea, the ship belonging to the human cultivators was still drifting along with the sea breeze.
The people of Blue Sea were rather tempted to recruit all of them and put them to work.
These cultivators could withstand fierce winds and towering waves, with spiritual energy surging all around them, while a whole group of people stood steadily on the deck, writing and drawing who knew what. At a glance, they looked like a bunch of people who would make excellent workers.
However, inside the [Mind Domain], the actual commander ultimately decided against approaching them.
At present, the only organization under the Blue Sea Great Luo Heavenly Court was Luofeng Youdu Office. Recruiting deceased cultivators to work for them was still perfectly reasonable. But directly recruiting the living would make the Heavenly Court seem rather lacking in dignity.
No matter. They could hold off for now.
After all, as long as someone was alive, there would always come a day when they died.
Although they had no intention of recruiting the cultivators directly, one Blue Sea resident still flew forward and announced:
“The Heavenly Court is conducting an investigation! All unauthorized personnel, stand back!”
The main purpose of this statement wasn’t actually to make the ship retreat. It was to introduce themselves.
Did you hear that? We’re the Heavenly Court!
The Hu Xuan Sect cultivators naturally had no idea what the Heavenly Court was. However, when at least a hundred million deities had just beaten up numerous powerful demons right before their eyes and even wrested control of a ten-thousand-year-old Black Tortoise from them, it was probably best to retreat to a safe distance when those deities told them to keep away.
As they steered their ship around and retreated, the cultivators also carefully recorded the two words “Heavenly Court,” repeatedly sending messages back toward their headquarters.
Once all the demon beast corpses floating on the sea had been collected, the numerous deities turned and departed. Above the horizon, dazzling, multicolored lights began to bloom once more, like shooting stars streaking across the sky.
The deities’ excellent eyesight allowed the Blue Sea residents to see the Hu Xuan Sect cultivators staring at them in a daze, their eyes filled with shock and longing.
The Blue Sea residents immediately felt rather pleased with themselves. They channeled their divine power faster and flew away with even greater speed and flair.
The Mystic Tortoise, which had only recently become a ghost cultivator and still wasn’t accustomed to its new, weightless form, could only do its utmost to keep up with them.
As it followed behind, it couldn’t help thinking that, judging by their behavior, perhaps they really did intend to make it some kind of divine official rather than use it as a mount.
After all, just think about it. What deity would choose a demon beast that flew even slower than itself as a mount?
…
Lu Song tilted his head back, watching as the countless deities flew back the way they had come.
How long had it been? Not even half a day, right? And they were already done?
With work efficiency like that, they were definitely Blue Sea residents.
Lu Song could only watch helplessly as their numbers continued to grow, while they flew farther and farther into the distance.
Eventually, he couldn’t even make out a single “shooting star” anymore.
Nobody noticed that, in a mountain below, a certain “Mountain God” was watching them leave with an utterly longing expression.
“Ah!”
‘My God! Why am I so incredibly unlucky?!!’
Lu Song sat down on the ground in frustration. At this point, he was even beginning to miss his days working as a kindergarten teacher in Blue Sea.
At least the little children, chattering noisily and crawling around everywhere, had made things quite lively.
Loneliness crept into his heart, reminding Lu Song of those days when he had lived entirely on his own for more than two hundred days in his original world, Velvet Star.
He had spent so long in Blue Sea that he had almost forgotten just how lonely he used to be.
Instinctively, Lu Song wanted to touch his crystal ball for comfort. But physical objects couldn’t be brought into Fallen Heaven Star, and the crystal ball he normally carried around to measure faith power was nowhere to be found.
Fortunately, he had carved numerous wooden statues of the great Blue Sea Creator God himself to comfort himself.
Now, holding one of the wooden carvings, with rows upon rows of Blue Sea Creator God statues of various sizes and exquisite craftsmanship arranged before him, Lu Song gradually calmed down and began to pray.
This was an effective way for him to settle his emotions. Whenever he prayed and thought about how, according to the prophecy, he would one day become a believer of Our God, just like Qi Yi and Qi Er, he always felt much better.
“Most holy, most exalted, most glorious—”
“Like light, like wind, like clouds—”
“Great Lord of the Star Sea—”
“Supreme Creator God—”
“Your majesty overwhelms Blue Sea—”
“Your mercy saves all creation—”
“Your compassion illuminates the ages—”
When he had recited the prayer for the tenth-odd time, Lu Song suddenly opened his eyes.
He could sense that the ginseng doll, which had gone down the mountain to help him find crop seeds, had just entered this mountain range.
This was actually rather good news. Although he was trapped on this mountain and couldn’t go anywhere else, perhaps because he was its Mountain God, Lu Song could see what was happening anywhere within the mountain simply by willing it.
At that moment, he could clearly see the little ginseng doll running cheerfully into the mountain on tiptoe. Sure enough, it was dragging a burlap sack even taller than itself.
Today, it wasn’t just wearing its little red bellyband. It had also somehow acquired a tattered old jacket and put it on. At first glance, it looked just like a human child.
It still wasn’t wearing any shoes, though. It ran incredibly fast, much faster than when it usually wandered around the mountain. Its little feet, made from intertwined roots, were rather short, so at this speed, they were practically reduced to afterimages.
Although it didn’t have any facial features, it was still quite adorable. And seeing it run so fast reminded Lu Song of the children he used to look after in Blue Sea.
He couldn’t remember how many times he had chased those little ones around the kindergarten, running after them lap after lap. Just like this ginseng doll, they hated wearing shoes and loved running around barefoot.
‘Oh, my God. Those really were wonderful memories.’
A faint smile crept onto Lu Song’s lips. He could almost picture how well this little fellow would get along with the children of Blue Sea once he brought it back.
Although the ginseng doll was already five hundred years old, it was still very much a little kid.
Come to think of it, Blue Sea also had a child from a long-tendril race. The ginseng doll had whiskers, too. Perhaps the two of them would have plenty to talk about.
He might even be able to adopt the little ginseng doll. When it had first entered the mountain, it hadn’t seemed nearly this brave or lively.
Just look at it now. It was even capable of racing against itself!
Lu Song was so absorbed in his pleasant daydreams that he almost couldn’t pull himself away.
But then he suddenly noticed that an unfamiliar person had entered the mountain.
More precisely, this stranger was chasing after the ginseng doll.
The person was running so hard that he was panting heavily. Gritting his teeth, he shouted at the top of his lungs as he ran:
“You little thief!! Stop right there!! Give me back my family’s grain!!”
“Stop!! I said STOP!!!!”
The little ginseng doll ran incredibly fast, weaving between trees and bushes. Even while running, it didn’t forget to turn around and throw a taunt at its pursuer:
“Bleh! I’m not stopping! These are for the wise and mighty Lord Mountain God! Keep chasing me, and I’ll have Lord Mountain God throw you out of here!!!”
Lu Song, who had been immersed in the thought that the little child he’d been looking after had become so lively, and it was making him feel wonderfully comforted, fell silent.
The Mountain God, who had been spending all his time alone with the ginseng doll, finally realized that there was something seriously wrong with his parenting.
You don’t even have a tongue! What the hell are you sticking out and going “bleh” with?!
And another thing! I told you to gather some grain. You could have sneaked into the fields in the middle of the night and stolen a stalk or two! I never told you to rob someone in broad daylight!!!
Also, could you please stop dragging me into this and praising me at times like these?!
Lu Song: “…”
The good news: A stranger had entered the mountain. He could finally reveal himself to another person and gain some faith power.
The bad news: This person had come chasing after the ginseng doll he’d been raising because the little rascal had stolen his belongings. Lu Song hadn’t even made his debut as a deity yet, and his reputation was already ruined.
Lu Song fell into deep contemplation. He was beginning to miss Blue Sea’s online forums.
If he could still connect to the internet, he would definitely make a post:
“Given the situation above, how can I make a suitably dignified entrance so that the other person understands I’m not some bandit Mountain God? And how can I turn this person into one of my believers despite such a disastrous first impression?
Waiting for answers online. It’s rather urgent.”
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Prayers for Lu Song!!! Prayers! 🙏🙏🙏🤲🤲