ATEG Chapter 61

This rain cannot nourish all living things. Instead, it will cause plants to wither and beasts to fall ill. Not only that, it also contains traces of malevolent qi. If one is exposed to it for too long, even cultivators will be affected.

The earth veins have spirit and respond instinctively, restoring the rainwater that falls in the mountains to normal. But what about other places where the earth veins lack sufficient spiritual essence or are too weak?

……

In Liquan Village, after tasting the rainwater, the village elder summoned the villagers to gather in the ancestral hall. They burned incense and made offerings, praying to Great King Yishan for aid.

The smoke curled upward, merging into the pale green demon qi that shrouded the village. The heavy rain poured down, turning everything in the village into a blur. Under the dim yellow sky, one couldn’t even see clearly beyond an arm’s length.

After a long while, a human figure vaguely appeared at the entrance to the ancestral hall. A villager, soaked to the bone, rushed through the rain and called out joyfully to the village elder. “Great King Yishan has shown his divine power! The rain is being diverted away from the fields, falling on both sides instead!”

The villagers in the ancestral hall all showed expressions of joy. The village elder’s expression relaxed slightly, but he said, “Don’t stop, continue the offerings!”

Someone asked in confusion, “Until when should we continue?”

The village elder looked up at the dark sky, deep unease etched in the ravines of his forehead. “Until the rain stops!”

……

In Shuigu Town, the Earth God Temple had closed its doors early. The temple keeper had already persuaded all who came to worship to return home. Only a few pilgrims from distant places were allowed to remain in the temple. They stood under the corridor, watching the rain pound the ground into fist-sized splashes, murmuring anxiously:

“When will this rain stop?”

The temple keeper said gently, “Don’t worry, the rain will stop eventually. Why don’t you all return to your guest rooms and wait? Don’t catch the damp chill.”

The several pilgrims silently prayed for the Earth God’s protection and returned to their rooms along the corridor. The temple keeper’s gentle expression gradually faded, replaced by worry. He closed the door, entered the main hall, lit incense, and knelt respectfully.

He prayed that all worldly affairs be peaceful, without disaster or calamity……

The tall divine statue on the altar gazed down benevolently. Blue smoke drifted faintly upward. The incense, carrying the temple keeper’s devout thoughts, slowly rose, ascending beyond where mortal eyes could see, merging into the incense smoke that surrounded the deity.

In temples, in homes, throughout every household in Shuigu Town, countless thoughts gathered into pale green incense smoke, blurring the deity’s features.

The Shuigu Earth God closed both eyes, transforming the pale green incense smoke and his divine power into thick, life-giving earth qi.

Even before the rain began to fall, a pale yellow earth qi invisible to mortal eyes had already risen from the earth, dissolving and eliminating the bitterness in the harsh rain.

……

Deep in the Daqing Mountain range, below Shekou Cliff.

At some point, a tall figure in white robes appeared above the eerily silent black water pool, with a giant black dog lying beside it.

The Ghost King looked up at the dim yellow sky, their arms slowly rising as if lifting something extremely heavy.

As the Ghost King raised their arms, the cliff shaped like a snake’s mouth slowly lifted its head, opening wide toward the sky. A thick, abyss-like mass of resentful ghost qi rose instantly, like black clouds covering the sky, turning what had been a dim yellow but still bright sky as dark as deep night.

But under the black clouds covering this patch of sky, all the rainwater was intercepted, falling like a tornado pillar entirely into the black water pool.

The pool water swallowed it all without rising even slightly, but the deathly still surface began to gradually ripple.

……

In the capital of Lu Kingdom, Zhangning City.

The face of Lu Kingdom’s ruler, Lu Hong, was so tense it showed not a hint of expression. Anyone could see his mood was foul.

The palace attendants on both sides all lowered their eyebrows and eyes, not daring to make a sound. Only the wild, pounding rain drummed heavily on their hearts. Even those officials dressed in court robes all kept their heads bowed and faces solemn.

“Wei Daozhu,” the ruler of Lu Kingdom suddenly called out.

Daozhu was an official position in charge of sacrifices and prayers, subordinate to the Minister of Rites who oversaw ancestral temple protocols. The Minister of Rites position had always been held by the Lu royal family’s Lu clan. The Daozhu was the highest ritual and sacrificial position that could be held by clans of other surnames outside the Lu clan. It was currently held by Wei Chun of the Langyue Wei clan.

Wei Chun was a middle-aged man with graying temples. After being summoned by the ruler, his heart sank slightly, but he still stepped forward steadily and responded.

After calling for him, Lu Hong remained silent for a long time, only looking down at the heavy splashes on the ground. After a long while, he asked, “This bitter rain—is this the calamity?”

“This rain is the beginning of the calamity,” Wei Chun answered.

Lu Hong’s expression grew even more somber, but he said nothing more, only waving his hand to dismiss Wei Chun.

He was not ignorant of the answer; he simply couldn’t help but hope otherwise.

“After the rain stops, we shall hold the great sacrifice,” Lu Hong said, no longer looking at the rain falling like a heavenly river, and turned back into the hall.

When the rain stops—countless village farmers, countless city households, everyone was hoping for this salty, bitter rain to stop. But after the rain stops, then what?

……

“When will this rain stop?” Jin Yan murmured.

Many shivering birds and small animals had taken shelter under the corridor. Even with the earth veins’ protection ensuring the rain falling here wouldn’t poison the mountain forest, the endless heavy rain was already a difficult ordeal for these wild animals.

The gurgling mountain streams had swollen violently, the fierce current flooding countless caves and washing away muddy slopes. Except for the silver fish in the courtyard pond, probably no creature could live peacefully in such violent rain.

Mister Hou Li had opened Li Manor’s restrictions, allowing nearby creatures to take shelter from the cold, wet rain under these tiled buildings. But if the rain never stopped, they couldn’t keep hiding here forever. Flesh and blood bodies need food to survive.

“Three days from now,” a clear, calm voice suddenly answered Jin Yan’s words.

“High God Li Chi! You’ve returned!” Jin Yan exclaimed joyfully.

Even with the earth veins and Mister Hou Li’s protection, with familiar old friends like Ding Qin, Wen Qianzi, and others present, without the deity, the residence was like a boat tossing uncertainly in a storm. Only when High God Li Chi returned did it finally drop anchor.

Li Chi reached out and pointed toward the pond in the courtyard. Suddenly, a thunderous rumbling sound came from within the mountain. A whirlpool appeared at the spring opening below the pond, sucking in all the pool water and sand. The silver fish, caught by this suction, involuntarily got pulled toward the whirlpool. After being startled, it quickly transformed into its ethereal form to escape the suction and stabilize itself.

After the pool water was sucked underground by the spring opening’s whirlpool and had dropped by a third, the whirlpool suddenly stopped and reversed, gushing out water. The pool water surged violently.

“I’ve connected the underground water veins. You clear the water openings and regulate the water flow,” Li Chi said.

The silver fish nodded repeatedly, dove into the spring opening, and disappeared.

It had originally been a spirit fish in the pond. After death, it merged with the spring opening—neither ghost nor nature spirit. Though its lifespan was long, it was difficult for it to cultivate. When the spring opening dried up would be when it vanished. Now that the mountain’s water veins were connected, and with this great calamity of torrential rain, if it could regulate the water flow, it could achieve some merit.

In just a moment, the pool’s surging stopped, and the mountain’s springs and streams also gradually restrained themselves, no longer violent.

Watching this, Jin Yan couldn’t help but feel happy. Several spirit monkeys sheltering in the residence also chattered with joy.

Li Chi looked at the mountain’s situation but wasn’t as relaxed as they were. The water flow had clearly eased only because he had connected the chaotic underground water veins. Originally separate veins were now linked together, with many empty spaces able to store water. The water flow self-regulated, so the effect was obvious. But once the water veins finished adjusting, it wouldn’t be as effective as now.

The spirit fish merged with the spring opening and instinctively knew how to manage water veins. It could organize chaotic veins smoothly, maximizing their water storage capacity.

But water veins had limits to what they could hold. No matter how smoothly organized, they couldn’t expand indefinitely unless new water veins were opened. But heaven and earth had their own balance. Too many water veins would damage the earth veins, eventually causing mountain collapses and more deaths.

Li Chi gazed into the vast, strange ominousness in the karmic threads of heaven and earth. He had traveled far and wide in the surrounding areas. This salty, bitter rain was falling throughout Lu Kingdom, throughout the Daqing Mountain range, and even in Liang Kingdom across from the Daqing Mountains… Perhaps the entire world was shrouded in rain.

He also saw how cultivators were responding. Throughout Lu Kingdom, in places with deities, most were like the Shuigu Earth God, using various methods to resolve the calamity in the rain. Other places without Divine Court deities were protected by cultivators like Great King Yishan, who were also using their own methods to fight the rain.

But far more wilderness areas had no protectors. Earth veins with sufficient spiritual essence to respond instinctively were even rarer.

This torrential rain would last three days. The raindrops were already heavy enough to pound pits into the earth. For now, those deities and cultivators could still cope, but what the situation would be after three days… remained uncertain.

“It’s good that it’ll end in three days,” Jin Yan said, feeling somewhat relieved.

This rain had come fiercely and strangely, but since it would end in three days, they just needed to endure.

But Li Chi gazed into the vast karmic threads and said, “This is the last rain of the year.”

Jin Yan was shocked. “High God, there will be no more rain this year?”

Li Chi shook his head.

Jin Yan opened his mouth but couldn’t speak for a long while. But summer had just begun, the weather was about to turn hot, and there was still more than half a year ahead. No rain would mean severe drought! Moreover, after such a bitter rain, who knew how much land and water veins had been contaminated? They needed new precipitation to wash away the salt and bitterness that had seeped into the soil and water sources.

Li Chi said nothing more. He quietly gazed at the chaotic karmic threads between heaven and earth, recalling the deity’s words from his dream.

“All living beings have long dwelt in confusion, their hearts parched. Using the intangible drought as a trigger, aberrations beyond season and reason shall arise.”

This calamity was called “Aberration.” Though born from severed karmic threads and chaotic life qi, the calamity itself was mindless, indifferent to karma and without reason. Regardless of status or cultivation, good or evil, beauty or ugliness—as long as a being in this realm had not escaped the cycle of reincarnation, all must pass through this tribulation.

This was a calamity for the entire world. This torrential rain was only the beginning.

Before even reaching the third day, many cultivators in various places could no longer hold on.

This rain was far heavier than ordinary rainwater and contained malevolent qi. If they only protected themselves, it naturally wasn’t difficult—they didn’t even need magic, just finding shelter under an eave would suffice. But if they wanted to protect an entire region… whether dissolving the bitter malevolence in the rain like the Shuigu Earth God, or forcibly diverting rainwater away from fields like Great King Yishan, both required vast amounts of magical power to sustain.

Not to mention how many cultivators could withstand such consumption—even if they barely endured these three days, what about the tribulations after?

This heavy rain was only the beginning of the great calamity.

On the first day, Great King Yishan’s range of rain diversion had already shrunk by half. He had realized this heavy rain might last quite a while. He couldn’t exhaust his strength now.

On the second day, the Shuigu Earth God sighed deeply and withdrew most of his earth qi, only protecting several crucial water sources and fields. He had been selective from the start, not protecting areas with brick and tile shelter or wasteland. But the bitter malevolence in the rain corroded ceaselessly—the longer it went on, the harder it became to resist. Moreover, Shuigu Town had just suffered the Dream-Eating Tapir’s calamity, and the earth qi was somewhat depleted. Now he could only abandon the small to preserve the large.

On the third day, the Ghost King wearily sank into the black water pool. What had been an eerily still pool now churned with terrifying waves. The black dog had long since not dared approach. The black clouds in the sky had shrunk to less than half their original range. Dense masses of ghost beings had gathered beneath the black clouds. The malevolent qi in this rain was most deadly to these ghost creatures formed from obsession. If touched too much, their consciousness would surely be swept away, leaving only killing intent. The Ghost King had no choice but to hold on, waiting until all the ghost beings arrived before slowly reducing the protected area.

On the fourth day, the rain stopped. Outside Zhangning City, countless crude shacks and thatched huts had been destroyed by the heavy rain. People who had lost their homes huddled shivering in temples outside the city.

In the fields, suburbs, and mountain forests… the verdant rice seedlings, wheat sprouts, shrubs, and vines that had been lush after the start of summer had been beaten by the heavy rain into vast swaths of soft, withered yellow. Only in scattered patches where magical power had been exhaustedly withdrawn did fragments of green still drift.