Chapter 114: Manifest Divine Power, Shallow Believer
As if waking from a dream, Li Shicheng’s eyes snapped open.
The window was bright and clean, the lamplight flickering.
Pale moonlight streamed through the window, falling onto his aged face, etched with deep wrinkles.
“Huff, huff…”
Li Shicheng sat up, gasping for breath, his cloudy eyes still filled with terror.
Just now, he seemed to have had a bizarre dream.
In the dream, there was a majestic divine palace hidden in the sky, and a deity whose appearance he couldn’t discern, calling himself ‘Upper Abyss Water Origin.’
Then, that deity seemed to issue a divine decree—
“For this Li family disciple, who has lived righteously and accumulated much hidden virtue, I now grant you a clear path, bestowing a sliver of life. Tomorrow at the third quarter of the midday hour, when yang energy is at its peak, you shall, in the Kun position of your residence, （ a place where southwest ） water and wood converge, meet the first person you see, who will break your deathly predicament and guide you to a destined path.
Do not ask why, do not doubt their actions. This is bound by heavenly secrets; do not reveal it to others, remember this.”
Li Shicheng placed his hands on the bed, recalling carefully, and the divine decree in his mind became even clearer.
By the end, it was as if carved into stone by a knife, deeply imprinted in his consciousness.
He couldn’t forget it, nor did he dare to!
Tomorrow at the third quarter of the midday hour, waiting in the Kun position for a sliver of life?
This was the revelation given to him by ‘Upper Abyss Water Origin’?
He wasn’t sure if it was Li Shicheng’s illusion, but he vaguely felt a connection with some unseen entity in the world.
He felt like a tiny ant that had accidentally pushed open the door to a heavenly palace atop the clouds, ascending the steps, surrounded by ancient carvings on jade walls, an ancient and magnificent sense of desolation pressing down on him.
He couldn’t help but feel submission, his hairs standing on end, daring not to harbor any disloyalty.
At this moment, Li Shicheng was like a drowning traveler, able to grasp only this last straw.
All his dignity as the head of the family and a first-rate expert were cast aside.
That clear sensation of life draining away, yet being powerless to stop it, was like an invisible hand tightly gripping his heart.
The harder he struggled, the more evident the despair became.
Fortunately, he now seemed to have become a believer of that great deity.
……
Li Shicheng endured the night in his bedroom. Perhaps due to anticipation, he remained awake for a long time, his heavy body feeling lighter.
As dawn approached, Li Shicheng got up and left his room. Under the surprised gaze of the maidservants, he personally brewed tea and heated water for washing, tidied himself up, and changed into new clothes.
After drinking two cups of wine and eating three white eggs, feeling warmth in his stomach, he went early to wait in the Kun position of the residence, where water and wood converged.
Not far away was the kitchen, its blue brick exterior stained with black soot from smoke.
A large water vat stood in the corner, its opening covered by a thick cypress wood lid.
Li Shicheng was somewhat confused.
At the third quarter of the midday hour, whom would he meet here?
Would it be an immortal or divine envoy who descended from heaven, sent by decree?
Or a highly accomplished individual passing through this mortal world?
Or perhaps a Martial Dao Grandmaster with a past connection to the Li family?
Li Shicheng’s uncharacteristic behavior drew the attention of everyone in the mansion.
“Has the Master… recovered?”
“Shush, it might just be a final burst of energy before death. Don’t disturb him, or his soul might be startled away!”
“Alas, once the Master is gone, we’ll have nowhere to go.”
From a distance, many people hid behind the rock garden and observed them.
Li Shicheng’s sons and grandsons had various expressions.
The eldest son of the Li family spoke, “Old Zhao, has the Master’s will been finalized? Have the shrouds and coffin been prepared? The Master has always been frugal, so choose inexpensive grave goods for burial; expensive ones might attract unwanted attention.”
Steward Zhao’s expression was calm; he said nothing more, merely emitting a “hm” from his nose.
The eldest son of the Li family saw this, and a trace of darkness flickered in his eyes.
Time passed, and the light shifted.
Li Shicheng leaned against a stone stool, fatigue overwhelming him, and he gradually closed his eyes, yet found it difficult to sleep, trapped in a torment of wakefulness.
“Splash, splash…”
Suddenly, water surged, and the crisp sound of it hitting the vat wall echoed.
Li Shicheng jolted, his eyes widening immediately. He looked up in the direction of the sound and exclaimed in astonishment,
“Old Chen?”
Chen Shun’an poured the turbid water from the bucket into the water vat, clapped his hands, and said somewhat curiously,
“Master Li, why are you out here suffering the sun and wind instead of staying in your room?”
“You… wait… what time is it now?”
Li Shicheng’s mind was in a muddle. He stood up unsteadily, staring directly at Chen Shun’an.
“It’s the third quarter of the midday hour. Your esteemed household has been using a lot of water recently, so Steward Zhao asked me to deliver water every day…”
Chen Shun’an added, “This isn’t blessed water, you know. I have to charge for it.”
The main reason was that Chen Shun’an had found most of Li Shicheng’s descendants to be ungrateful. After benefiting from Chen Shun’an’s blessed water, they showed no gratitude and even cursed Chen Shun’an, calling him unappreciative and deliberately looking down on the Li family.
The family’s conduct was improper; Chen Shun’an wondered how Li Shicheng had educated his descendants.
Chen Shun’an shook his head.
“The third quarter of the midday hour… then you, I, I…”
Master Li suddenly felt a dryness in his throat, his throat felt parched, and his gaze towards Chen Shun’an held a mix of eagerness, anticipation, and fear of his wishes not being fulfilled.
If the divine decree was correct, then Old Chen was the one who would ‘break my deathly predicament and guide me to a destined path.’
However, Master Li couldn’t have imagined, no matter how hard he tried to figure it out, that it would be Chen Shun’an!
Chen Shun’an suddenly thought of something. He put down his carrying pole, walked up to Master Li, and lowered his voice slightly.
“By the way, Master Li, based on a secret ancestral prescription from Wan Niang, I’ve made some modifications and prepared a type of talisman water by concocting it with the chicken head pearl sweet water, calling it ‘Ran Yi Calming Water’.”
Saying this, Chen Shun’an took a white porcelain small bottle from his embrace.
“This water has the effect of calming the mind, aiding sleep, and regulating the soul chamber. Master Li, you are knowledgeable and experienced, please offer your corrections and insights.”
Li Shicheng took it and opened it to see that the bottle contained half its volume of clear, cold water.
Looking at its form, it was unremarkable.
Sniffing its scent, it had a slight sweet fragrance.
“This… calms the mind and aids sleep?”
Li Shicheng held the porcelain bottle in his hand and suddenly felt a sense of daze, a feeling of insignificance, as if worldly affairs were predetermined.
Having suffered from physical and spiritual exhaustion, insomnia, and mental confusion for a long time, he had received the divine decree from ‘Upper Abyss Water Origin’ last night, and today Old Chen happened to deliver this calming water to him.
What a coincidence!
That deity, who had not directly manifested divine power, had nonchalantly manipulated the threads of fate and interfered with karma.
Li Shicheng instinctively tightened his grip on the white porcelain small bottle. Without even having time to say more, he tilted his head back and gulped it down.
He no longer cared about doubting the medicine’s efficacy or whether this calming water would work.
This was his only hope!
Then, a wave of weariness, absent for many days, washed over him.
His entire body felt warm, as if returning to the mother’s amniotic fluid. Li Shicheng was immersed in it, his eyelids feeling as heavy as Mount Tai, utterly unable to resist.
Leaning against the stone stool, he immediately fell asleep.
His dry soul chamber, like a parched land receiving sweet dew, felt a stream of warmth slowly generating from the deepest part of his mind.
The three essences of spirit, qi, and energy were naturally mutually supportive and interdependent.
As his divine essence awakened, new blood gradually formed in Li Shicheng’s bone marrow, advancing inch by inch along his long-dried and shriveled meridians.
Chen Shun’an picked up the white porcelain small bottle, gave Li Shicheng a deep look, rolled up his sleeves, hoisted his carrying pole on either side, and set up the empty wooden bucket.
With light steps, he informed Steward Zhao and strode out of the Li Mansion.
The eldest son of the Li family and several third and fourth uncles sat idly at a stone table in the front courtyard, drinking tea and eating fruit. They merely glanced indifferently at Chen Shun’an, who was delivering water.
Not long after Chen Shun’an left, a snore suddenly came from the backyard.
At first, it was faint, almost inaudible.
Gradually, like melting snow forming a stream, it turned into the momentum of a vast river, rumbling like thunder!
A surge of vibrant, hot qi broke through years of accumulated stagnant energy, forming a powerful and chaotic pressure that shot towards the sky!
Everyone suddenly stood up, looking in terror in the direction of the snoring.
They felt a heart-palpitating pressure emanating through the walls, making their qi and blood churn, almost suffocating them.
“Is this aura from the Master?”
“It’s from the kitchen area, only the Master is there!”
Steward Zhao moved and vanished from his spot, heading towards the backyard.
Everyone rushed to the backyard and saw Li Shicheng half-sitting, half-lying on the stone stool, his eyes tightly closed, fast asleep.
A faint trace of blood had managed to surface on his withered face.
His bones emitted dull cracking sounds.
Veins that had long been hidden and shriveled now bulged and writhed beneath his skin like awakened green snakes.
Especially a sense of pressure from a first-rate expert gradually emanated from his body.
That was Li Shicheng’s ‘spirit,’ returned!
“Father!”
“I knew it, Father would be alright!”
“He broke down to rebuild, Father is reborn from the ashes, hahaha, it is a blessing for our Li family!”
Regardless of what intentions these rebellious sons had before, now they could only be excited and joyous.
Thus, they all transformed into filial sons and grandsons, with tears in their eyes, acting as protectors for Li Shicheng.
The Li family was filled with joy.
……
【 Shallow Believer +1】
【 Wish +65】
After eating lunch at the Second Meat Shop and returning to Grit Well, Chen Shun’an, shielding half his face with a tattered straw hat, lay on the water cart, pretending to rest.
Messages came from his mind.
The other water carriers, seeing Chen Shun’an’s posture, lowered their voices and moved quietly.
Scarred Liu and others, who had intended to seize this time to practice cultivation, found a secluded spot and quietly continued their efforts.
“Old Chen is old after all and needs his afternoon nap. This might be an opportunity for me, Liu, to surpass him.”
Many people, like Scarred Liu, harbored similar thoughts.
After all, their current strength, while still somewhat distant from Chen Shun’an, was not yet hopeless. With a bit more effort, perhaps they could catch up?
Chen Shun’an’s consciousness returned to the Precious Proclamation, entering the cramped Divine Palace.
He walked step by step onto the throne and sat down cross-legged.
Under his gaze, the incense stick representing Li Shicheng below him shifted position, moving closer to himself.
It became thicker, changing from the initial thickness of a willow branch to the thickness of a thumb.
