Chapter 121 Favorable Weather and Abundant Harvests, Imperial Edict of Chang'an

At this moment, Jiang Chen's rain prayer steps had still not ended.

After summoning the Red Thunder, Jiang Chen stepped in sequence, facing northwest.

"Clouds fly to the Jade Void!"

"Rain descends upon the pavilion!"

Rumble!

Suddenly, dark clouds gathered in the sky, lightning flashed and thunder roared, as countless red, black, and white bolts of lightning surged and converged, like ten thousand Dragons coming to pay homage.

"Swiftly, as commanded!"

As the words fell, the original breeze suddenly turned into a violent gale.

The air seemed permeated with the moisture of impending rain.

Then.

Patter!

Unprepared, a bean-sized raindrop fell from the sky and slapped against Jianzhen's face.

"Daoist Priest Jiang, it's raining!"

This drop of rain was like a signal, followed immediately by a downpour pouring down.

The rain washed away the dryness of heaven and earth, also bringing forth the vitality of all things.

Jiang Chen's figure landed steadily on the ground.

Summoning such a torrential rain covering the entire Yu Prefecture by his power alone was still a bit taxing for him.

Jianzhen saw that Jiang Chen's complexion was off and hurried over to support him.

Jiang Chen waved his hand to indicate it wasn't necessary, then slightly adjusted his breathing on the spot; soon, his aura became strong once again.

Jianzhen was somewhat dazed; was the recovery of True Qi this fast?

Although the consumption just now was great, Jiang Chen exerted himself to feel that state of resonance between heaven and man, finally gaining something again.

He once again observed that Human-Shaped Life Wheel within the mysterious Life Wheel and successfully memorized a portion of the ancient and mysterious runes.

The runes this time shared a subtle similarity with the ones he had memorized last time, yet upon comparison, they were completely different, appearing to be from the same source but different branches.

But presumably, they should also help him increase the power of his Divine Ability by another level.

...

Time shifted back to dozens of breaths ago.

A mile away, several Imperial Agents watched in inexplicable horror as Jiang Chen's figure stood tall between heaven and earth.

As bystanders, they saw it more clearly than anyone.

Among them, an Imperial Agent holding paper and brush recorded rapidly.

Record: "The nineteenth day of the eighth month in the fifth year of Kaiyuan, Jiang Chen, a Daoist of the Maoshan Sect, prayed for rain in Yu Prefecture, treading on the Void Realm as if on level ground, walking four steps in reverse."

"He said 'Let there be wind,' and thus the Xun Position opened wide, the sea of clouds churning!"

"He said 'Let there be thunder,' and thus the Thunder Pool overturned, the heavenly drums roaring!"

"He said 'Let there be rain,' and thus Xuanming held the scepter, and the four seas poured down!"

"In an instant, the rain submerged the ground by half a finger's depth, and the drought in Yu Prefecture was easily resolved."

Having finished the recording, one of the Imperial Agents mounted a fast horse, took the recorded scrolls, and sped towards Chang'an.

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang had previously instructed them to submit a report of everyone's records every three days.

...

With the drought in Yu Prefecture resolved, the two of them continued walking towards other drought-stricken areas.

During this process, Jianzhen was not idle either.

Although the Buddhist methods for praying for rain were not as good as the Daoist ones, their skills in miraculous healing were not inferior to the Daoists' in the slightest; some of their Spells also had their unique aspects.

For example, when they first arrived in Ying Prefecture, Jiang Chen and the other found that the drought in this place was particularly severe.

In some places, because some corpses had not been properly disposed of, the water source had been contaminated, and symptoms of a plague had already appeared.

And it was still spreading outward.

Given this situation, the local government had blockaded all symptomatic people in a village outside the city.

They called it unified management for the convenience of treatment.

But the soldiers standing outside, wearing wormwood veils and chainmail and holding spears, had surrounded the entire village in layer upon layer.

Any commoner who wanted to leave the village would be driven back, and if any tried to escape, they would be killed on the spot by the soldiers.

This made the villagers realize they had been abandoned; staying here, waiting for death was only a matter of time.

There was almost no food in the village, and the only water source was a single well, and the water inside was running low.

At this critical juncture, Jianzhen went into the village without hesitation to treat the commoners suffering from the plague.

And Jiang Chen was also preparing talisman water; relying on Jianzhen's strength alone, he probably wouldn't be able to heal so many people in the village even if he worked himself to death.

Jiang Chen actually wanted to use some modern scientific methods to deal with the plague.

But he only knew of one method for obtaining a smallpox vaccine, and he wasn't sure if it was the same as the current one.

He could only impart some conventional prevention methods to everyone.

For example, unified isolation and disposal of feces, drinking boiled water, and burning more Atractylodes in the village to eliminate the virus.

After praying for the heavy rain, they stayed in Ying Prefecture for several more days before they were able to leave.

It was also at this time that an Imperial Ranking in Chang'an attracted the attention of people all over the world.

On this day, several fast horses galloped out of the Imperial City, quickly dispersing to various city gates of Chang'an.

Then they posted a ranking on the city walls, attracting many commoners to come and watch.

"Xuanmen... what ranking? Does anyone know how to read? Can you read it out?"

At this moment, a long-bearded man who looked like a storyteller squeezed to the front of the crowd. Someone, from who-knows-where, brought a stool for him to stand on, making him a head taller than everyone else.

He spread his arms, signaling for everyone to be quiet.

"Everyone, what is posted on this ranking is the xuanmen merit ranking! It lists the contributions and virtues of the current Buddhist and Daoist sects to our Great Tang!"

Someone below asked: "What kind of merit is it exactly that would make the Emperor post a ranking?"

The storyteller smiled and kept them in suspense.

"Everyone, please be patient and listen to me explain slowly. Speaking of this Merit Ranking, we must mention the Mid-Autumn Feast held by the Saint in the Imperial Palace some time ago during the Mid-Autumn Festival!"

"He invited famous figures from both the Buddhist and Daoist sects to the feast. Hey! Guess what happened? It just so happened that the Henan and Huainan circuits were suffering from a great drought, and there were evil spirits causing trouble in the world."

"That monster was truly formidable, with three heads and six arms, three-foot-long fangs in its mouth, and eyes the size of lanterns. Whenever it spoke, a blast of fire would erupt from its mouth!"

"Drought in Huainan and Henan? Hearing this, everyone's thoughts varied for a moment."

"Think about it, everyone, isn't this a great thing?" the storyteller asked.

"It's already a great drought, how can it be considered a great thing?" the person below asked.

"Well, think about it. If the Saint hadn't held this Mid-Autumn Feast, how could so many masters and Daoists have gathered? And these people of the Xuanmen, in order to share the Saint's burdens, took the initiative to propose going to the drought-stricken lands to subdue demons and pray for rain."

"The Saint was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately issued a heavenly decree."

"He said that regarding this disaster relief, rain prayer, and demon subduing, he would proclaim the meritorious deeds and achievements of the Xuanmen people to the world!"

Immediately, the people below began to buzz with discussion.

"So, who is actually written on that ranking?"

The storyteller smiled slightly and said: "This ranking is not yet the final version; it only lists what some Daoists and monks have done along the way."

"I am Bai An, and I live in the Taihe Tower of Zhaoxing Ward. If you all have some free time, you can also come to drink tea and listen to stories, just for fun!"