564: Chapter 565 An Unintentional Act Leads to a Success

However, no one cherishes things that are obtained too easily.

If he were to bestow benefits so easily, these living beings of the Lower Three Heavens would likely not know how to be grateful.

Since that is the case, he would give them something harsher.

First, let them feel despair, then let them see hope.

Only then will they understand what loyalty means!

With this thought in mind, Lu Ming raised his hand and made a vague grasping motion.

In an instant, the wind and clouds above the firmament changed drastically.

Thick layers of clouds began to surge and accumulate, condensing into a massive dark cloud covering ten thousand miles.

Within it, streaks of purple electric snakes transformed into dull thunder rolling across the horizon.

On the ground, the wind whistled; the initially dry wind and sand grew moist, sweeping across the land with a hint of water vapor.

"It's raining... It's raining!"

In a certain tribe, a withered old man stumbled out of a stone house, looking up at the accumulating dark clouds, tears welling up in his murky eyes.

"Rain... It's finally going to rain..."

Following his exclamation, more and more people ran out of their houses; some knelt on the ground, crying up at the sky, while others pressed their palms together, muttering to the heavens.

Even the Essence Spirits and exotic beasts in the mountains stopped their movements, looking up at the changing sky with vigilance and confusion in their eyes.

Finally, the first drop of rain fell.

Then, as if triggering a chain reaction, the rain began to fall harder and harder, landing on the parched earth with faint sounds.

The ground was nourished by the rainwater, the cracks began to close, and various flowers, plants, and trees regained their vitality.

It seemed that everything was developing in a good direction.

However, Lu Ming did not stop after doing all this.

The divine talisman shone between his brows, and his Divine Power continued to surge.

Consequently, the rain did not weaken; instead, it grew heavier and heavier.

As the rain became violent, the rainwater began to gather into streams, then riverbeds were quickly filled, and then it began to overflow madly, rushing toward the low-lying areas.

Thus, the expressions of those various living beings who were still cheering and celebrating gradually turned to terror.

However, natural disasters are ruthless; the surging floodwaters, carrying mud and rubble, swept away those living beings who could not escape in time.

In just an instant, it destroyed those simple houses, sweeping away the people and exotic beasts that could not escape in time.

Some people struggled in the water, their arms raised high, but were quickly beaten down by the waves, never to surface again.

The roars of beasts and cries of people rose and fell, but were quickly torn apart by the wind and rain, heard no more.

The sky-filling flood was swallowing the Lower Three Heavens.

Lu Ming hovered high in the sky, looking down at the land below that was being swallowed by the flood.

His eyes were extremely indifferent, like a true deity, without the slightest sympathy for the desperate living beings below.

But soon, Lu Ming's gaze trembled slightly, and then his eyes gradually changed, turning from indifferent to vivid, as if he had been re-endowed with emotions.

"Hmm? Something is wrong!"

It was as if he had suddenly realized what he had just been doing.

In an instant, Lu Ming felt a chill permeate his body; cold sweat seeped from his temples, and his breathing suddenly became a bit rapid.

What had he just been doing!

Destroying the world? Harvesting the Power Of Faith? What a joke!

Lu Ming clearly had a clear understanding of his own character.

If someone said he was of poor character, he would not object; if they said he was a refined egoist, he would also agree.

But he still possessed the most basic values of a person, the bottom line of being human!

But his state just now was clearly not right.

That kind of indifference, that detachment from the world, that attitude of regarding life as mere grass, did not seem like emotions he should have.

Although he had killed countless people since embarking on the path to Cultivate, at least there was always some Karma entanglement or conflict of interest.

But regardless, he would never be so cold-blooded as to treat the Life and Death of living beings as a tool to achieve his goals.

To manipulate a catastrophe in such a cold-blooded way, and to harvest the Power Of Faith from it, this was absolutely not his style.

It was even more impossible for him to watch such a tragic scene with indifference, and even take pleasure in it.

There must be a problem here!

Could it be that he had just fallen under some kind of illusion, or that his Divine Soul had been controlled by someone, which caused his Heart-Nature to change drastically?

But that shouldn't be; although he was borrowing the body of Great Elder Lu Chenyuan, the inside was a genuine Nascent Soul Divine Soul.

What kind of illusion could silently influence him, without him even noticing a trace!

If it weren't for the fact that this action was too ruthless and conflicted too much with his own principles, he might not have even reacted!

However, Lu Ming still couldn't figure these things out, but he was very certain of one thing.

That was that the person who acted in the shadows must have a very high cultivation, even stronger than him to some extent.

"Could it be that guy?"

Lu Ming immediately thought of his previous guess.

At that time, he had vaguely sensed that his coming to the Divine Court itself seemed to reveal something unusual.

At the time, he had guessed that there must be someone pushing this from behind the scenes.

He didn't know who it was specifically, but by using the karma golden book to perform a process of elimination, he finally locked this person onto the Soul-Devouring Demon Lord.

If it really was this old schemer, given the other party's cultivation and means, him falling into their trap didn't seem so hard to accept.

But how did the other party do it?

Lu Ming admitted that he might not be as good as the other party in dao attainment.

But he also believed that the gap between the two would not be that large; at least it shouldn't be possible for him to fall into a trap without knowing it.

If the Soul-Devouring Demon Lord had the means to stably control the Divine Soul of a Nascent Soul True Monarch, he might have already reached Soul Transformation.

Therefore, the other party must have done something, which caused him to fall into the trap blindly.

Lu Ming urgently wanted to understand what kind of means this was.

Whether it was to prevent it in the future, or to learn it himself, it was worth his deep investigation.

Thus, Lu Ming subconsciously began to retrace everything that had just happened, and finally discovered a subtle anomaly deep in his Sea of Consciousness.

"Hmm? Is it this divine talisman?"

Although Lu Ming didn't know how the Soul-Devouring Demon Lord attacked him, to influence a Nascent Soul True Monarch to this extent, there would need to be a medium.

But this body of Great Elder Lu Chenyuan had long been converted by him and had completely become his shape; to Lu Ming, there were no secrets in it.

Therefore, this medium probably came from an external object.

Lu Ming first suspected those Luck Origins he had collected along the way.

These things were so complex; if someone wanted to mix something into them, it would be really hard to detect without careful investigation.

But Lu Ming thought about it and felt it wasn't right; these Luck Origins, although collected by him, were intended for his true self to consume, and during this time, this converted body had not made any contact with them.

So there was a high probability it was another external object.

By now, even if Lu Ming's reaction was slow, he realized where the crux of the problem lay.

That was that divine talisman that had been refined into his body since he joined the Divine Court.

He saw that there was an extremely subtle fluctuation on the surface of the talisman, like an undercurrent hidden beneath the water's surface, difficult to detect, but truly existing.

If he hadn't become vigilant this time and investigated repeatedly, he would never have discovered that such a hidden trick was hidden inside.

At first, Lu Ming didn't take it seriously, because even the highest combat power of the Divine Court, the [Heavenly Emperor], was merely a False Nascent Soul.

It posed no threat to him at all, so he had no scruples when refining it.

But now it seemed that the water here was probably a bit deep.

Something that could influence him, a Nascent Soul True Monarch, could definitely not be a False Nascent Soul in terms of status, and it could definitely not be something that the Divine Court could possess.

Lu Ming frowned and began to carefully feel the subtle changes in the divine talisman.

This startled him, and he discovered a trace of discord in it.

It seemed to retain a faint, extremely obscure lingering charm.

It was as if someone had hidden their will inside, silently guiding his thoughts, letting him naturally walk down that path.

This was not control, nor was it Possession, but a near-instinctual guidance.

Therefore, he had fallen into the trap without knowing it!

"How f*cking sinister!"

Lu Ming grumbled; he had been inexplicably set up by someone, and this matter would definitely not end just like that!

He was not a magnanimous person to begin with; seeking revenge for the slightest grievance was his style.

He admitted that sometimes he could be unscrupulous for his goals, and could betray everything for profit.

But that must be his own choice, not being pushed by someone else.

Therefore, he noted down this debt, and sooner or later, he would settle it one by one.

But now was not the time to worry about these things.

Lu Ming looked down; the land beneath his feet had already been mostly swallowed by the flood, turbid waves surging, carrying rubble and broken wood, and those living beings still struggling in the water were being swept deeper little by little.

If he delayed any longer, it would really be a catastrophe for all living beings.

Thus, Lu Ming did not hesitate any longer and raised his hand to press down in the void.

His palm faced down, five fingers slightly spread, a warm water light lit up from his palm, turning into a circle of soft light that spread out in all directions.

At the same time, that official seal also lit up, the runes on it lighting up one by one, as if a sleeping river was awakening.

His words were like a heavenly mandate, clearly spreading throughout the heavens and earth.

"Where the Water Virtue reaches, all streams return to their place, disperse!!"

In an instant, the divine path power of that Heavenly Official within his body poured out, permeating the entire Lower Three Heavens.

That power seeped into the earth like water veins, as if an invisible hand reached out from the Void Realm, gently smoothing out the surging waves.

The flood began to slow down, the turbid waves no longer surged, the flow rate began to slow, and the water surface gradually stabilized.

Then, the tide began to recede, returning to the earth's veins along the dried-up riverbeds.

The turbid tide receded toward the horizon, as if being swept into an invisible rift.

The earth was exposed again, but now it was in a mess.

Broken trees, collapsed stone houses, scattered bones, and those survivors who were sitting limply in the mud and water.

And as the dark clouds dispersed, the sky began to clear.

The long-lost sunlight pierced through the clouds, as if lifting a corner of the sky's curtain, golden light spilling onto the earth, shining on those survivors.

They looked up and saw that figure in the sky.

He stood in the light, like a true deity.

Water light flowed around his body, his robes fluttering slightly in the wind, carrying a kind of calm and inviolable majesty.

A moment later, someone knelt down; although he was soaked all over, muddy water dripping from his hem, he seemed not to feel the cold.

He just knelt on the ground, trembling, his forehead pressed against the wet ground.

Then came the second, the third, the tenth, the hundredth; large swathes of people knelt down.

"Heavenly Official, have mercy! Save us from suffering!"

Hoarse voices rang out from the crowd, like a lit fuse, and then more voices gathered into a tide.

"Heavenly Official, great mercy!"

"Water Virtue Heavenly Official has descended to the world! Save our lives!"

"We are willing to worship the Heavenly Official with incense for generations!"

The voices became more and more uniform, like a stream of water taking shape, rising from the earth and falling into the firmament.

Even those Essence Spirits and exotic beasts peeking from afar lowered their heads in unison, emitting low whimpers, as if responding to some invisible call.

Lu Ming stood in the air, feeling the power that was gathering.

The Power Of Faith, different from those scattered believers, this was the survival after the extreme fear of tens of thousands of living beings.

Their will, their awe, their gratitude, at this moment gathered into a huge torrent, like countless small streams flowing into the same lake.

He felt a warm energy surging from all directions, injecting into his body like a warm current, circulating along his Meridians, merging with his Water Virtue power, and then slowly settling.

That feeling was indescribable, like countless people whispering the same name at the same time, falling into his ears,

And it was like it was growing silently, spreading to all his limbs and bones.

He closed his eyes, feeling the Power Of Faith slowly settling in his body, as if there was a water pool taking shape, extending in a deeper direction, gradually approaching that threshold.

Lu Ming opened his eyes, feeling a bit dumbfounded in his heart.

It was just that after he realized he had a problem, he had never thought of being a savior again to obtain any Power Of Faith.

But he didn't expect that he would have a change of heart midway and stop early; although the process was different, the result was the same.

Those kneeling living beings still regarded him as a savior, and those Power Of Faith still surged toward him.

"It really is an unintended success!"

Lu Ming's gaze fell on the muddy ground below; he was silent for a moment, and then whispered to himself.

"Since I have already done it, I might as well do it to the end."

Thus, water light lit up around him again, and the sky began to rain gently again, but this time it was not a flood that brought disaster, but a scene of vitality and all things competing to flourish.

Those withered grass roots began to show a little light green, tender buds broke out from the branches of dead wood, water flowed again in the riverbed, clear to the bottom.

On the distant hillside, new buds began to sway gently in the wind.

The air became moist, carrying a scent of soil mixed with grass, as if the entire earth was being repainted.