As soon as Lu Chen finished speaking these light, almost mocking words,
The once-boiling crowd at the Great Dragon Pool fell completely silent.
Everyone looked at each other, and for a moment, no one said a word.
Wang Zhongmin couldn’t hold back any longer. He rushed forward and started scolding the crowd, “Do you have any idea what’s good for you? This man traveled a long way to pray for rain for us, and what are you all grumbling about? What right do you have to complain?
What Daoist Lu said is right—has he asked you to give up anything?
Isn’t he just asking you to cooperate and offer a sincere prayer?
And you still have the nerve to question him?!
After all this trouble we’ve gone through, who is it for?
It’s for you!
It’s for the entire Longhu County!
From start to finish, have we ever asked you for a single cent?
Huh?!!!”
The more Wang Zhongmin spoke, the more agitated he became, and by the end, he was practically shouting!
This made the entire pool area even more silent.
Lu Chen patted Wang Zhongmin on the shoulder, signaling him not to get too worked up. Then he stepped back up to the microphone and said with the utmost seriousness, “I can promise you all this: as long as you’re willing to trust me, I, Lu Chen, will do whatever it takes to make this rain happen. I’m counting on everyone to work together and lend me your strength. Alright?!”
“Alright!!!”
No one knew who shouted first.
But the entire crowd in the pool area finally snapped out of it. After a moment of hesitation, they raised their hands one by one, their eyes growing determined.
“Alright, we’ll trust you one more time!”
“Right, and trust that Well Dragon King too!”
“Just don’t let us down again!”
Listening to the thunderous chorus of agreement,
Spirit Water Venerable One, standing in the crowd, narrowed his eyes and snorted coldly, “A bunch of hopeless fools!”
…
Inside the Xuan Dou Palace, the Water Virtue Star Lord stroked his beard and smiled. “What a clever retreat to advance.”
He saw through Lu Chen’s intention at a glance.
Beside him, Lord Jun simply smiled faintly. His eyes swept over the faint, menacing figures of the several dragons in the Mystic Light Mirror, and his gaze hardened slightly.
…
Seeing that the situation had turned around, Lu Chen nodded. “Thank you, everyone! Please bear with me a little longer. Once the auspicious hour of noon arrives, I will immediately begin the ritual.”
He checked the time. Only five minutes remained until noon.
Lu Chen quickly walked to the back and took out his ritual tools from a wooden box—he put on a yellow robe, fastened the nine sashes, grasped a peachwood sword in his hand, and wore the Five Directions Command at his waist.
Seeing him dressed like this, Sun Yourong felt her heart stir.
It wasn’t that the outfit was strange.
On the contrary, the clothes fit Lu Chen so naturally and perfectly.
They highlighted his otherworldly temperament.
Lu Chen stood quietly in front of the platform, holding the peachwood sword behind his back, his eyes closed, waiting for the final seconds to tick by.
When noon finally arrived!
“Dong!!”
Chen Tiansheng struck the bronze gong without a moment’s delay.
Lu Chen’s eyes snapped open, and his voice boomed like a great bell: “Open the altar!!!”
Dozens of red lanterns around the high platform were released into the air.
Lu Chen, holding the peachwood sword, immediately began stepping in the ritualistic pace known as Bugang Dadou!
He chanted the “Incantation for Purifying the Heavens and Earth”:
“The heavens and earth are natural, foul air disperses. Within the cave is mystery and void, bright and clear, vast and primal…”
This was the first step of opening the altar—purifying the ritual space, transforming it into a sacred realm, and preventing evil spirits from interfering.
“Whoosh~”
In an instant, an invisible, powerful wind exploded outward with Lu Chen at its center.
On the platform, Wang Zhongmin, Chen Tiansheng, and Sun Yourong were the first to feel it. The wind blew them back several steps, and they stared in utter astonishment.
The powerful wind swept across the entire Great Dragon Pool.
It forced the hundred thousand onlookers to close their eyes.
When they opened them again, they were stunned to find that the Great Dragon Pool, which had been filled with swirling sand and dust,
Seemed to have been cleansed by an invisible, divine power.
An almost tangible sense of purity now filled the air between heaven and earth.
“This!!!”
For a moment, countless people gaped in disbelief.
Many of them had witnessed similar rituals where psychics prayed for rain, time and again.
But compared to Lu Chen’s solemn and majestic ceremony, those so-called rituals were so ordinary they almost seemed shabby.
But the effect today was truly astonishing!
In an instant, countless hearts began to race. Everyone widened their eyes and strained to see the high platform, and without even realizing it, a glimmer of hope was rekindled within them.
…
“Big brother, what kind of technique is this kid using?!”
Ten thousand meters up in the sky, the Four Sea Dragon Kings looked at each other in bewilderment.
“Why do I feel an inexplicable force suddenly bursting outward? And that force doesn’t feel like magic power or divine power. It’s more like some obscure force of heaven and earth.”
The West Sea Dragon King was immediately astonished.
“Yeah, that’s right. The force feels unfamiliar yet strangely familiar. It’s truly bizarre. And this force definitely isn’t coming from the kid himself—he’s only borrowing it.”
The North Sea Dragon King coiled his body and added.
“Look at the kid’s footsteps.” The East Sea Dragon King, Ao Guang, noticed something and pointed it out. “His steps trace the Big Dipper and align with the Northern Dipper! Strange. Where on earth did he learn such a secret technique? Did his sworn brother teach him that too?”
“Hiss! If that’s the case, then it’s understandable!”
As the four dragons speculated,
Inside the Xuan Dou Palace,
The Water Virtue Star Lord now looked suspiciously at Lord Jun.
Lord Jun sat calmly and shook his head slightly. “Brother, don’t look at me like that. I don’t know about this either.”
The Water Virtue Star Lord was astonished. The mist around his cloud seat began to swirl restlessly. “If it’s not from you, Lord Jun, then where did this boy learn the art of the Gang Steps that aligns with the Big Dipper?”
Lord Jun remembered what Lu Chen had told him earlier and offered an explanation. “My worthy younger brother has many secret techniques passed down from his ancestors. I suppose… this technique is among them.”
He paused, then laughed heartily. “Brother, you are the Water Virtue Star Lord, commanding all water affairs under heaven. You’ve seen much and know many things. There are many extraordinary people in the mortal world with strange abilities. It’s not so unusual for some unexplained secret techniques to circulate.”
The Water Virtue Star Lord thought it over. That made sense. His divine gaze focused again on the Mystic Light Mirror. “From the looks of it, your sworn brother does have some hidden depth to him. Look at his ceremonial robe—it’s different from anything I’ve seen. I even vaguely sense that it seems to share a common lineage with my own Heavenly Court!”
Lord Jun neither confirmed nor denied this. He continued to quietly observe what would happen next.
…
On the high platform at the Great Dragon Pool,
As Lu Chen chanted,
He realized the momentum of the altar-opening was actually this powerful!?
His inner thoughts also began to churn like turbulent waves.
He hadn’t expected that after crossing over to this place,
The power of this ritual would also receive an epic boost!
This was solid!
With this kind of momentum, wasn’t this attempt a hundred percent guaranteed to succeed!
Pushing down his excitement,
Lu Chen stopped his Gang Steps and placed the peachwood sword on the table.
Then he picked up an incense burner, in which there was still an unlit stick of fine incense.
After purifying the altar, the next step was to ignite the burner and offer the incense!
So-called ‘igniting the burner and offering the incense’ essentially meant consulting with the deity.
If the deity agreed, the incense in the burner would light on its own.
If it didn’t light, that meant the invocation had failed.
Lu Chen raised the incense burner to his forehead and immediately began chanting the “Incantation for Igniting the Incense Burner.”
“I now open the burner, the eight spirits descend… the Azure Dragon constantly guards, maintaining righteousness and walking together…”
As the “Incantation for Igniting the Incense Burner” was chanted, the incense, as expected, lit without any flame. The green smoke rose straight up.
…
“Big brother, something’s wrong! This mysterious force seems to be getting stronger and stronger!?”
The four dragons felt the invisible force surging even more fiercely through the heavens and earth around the Great Dragon Pool.
The South Sea Dragon King’s brow furrowed deeply, and for a moment, an inexplicable sense of unease crept over him.
“Big brother, this kid is truly sinister!”
The North Sea Dragon King, the most violent in temperament, opened his massive jaws and glared menacingly.
Ao Guang crouched on the clouds, looking down, and his dragon eyes grew deeper and darker. “What the hell is this kid really up to!”
He glanced up at the Ninth Heaven.
As his sense of crisis grew heavier, he was frustrated that he was bound by the divine decree and unable to move.
In his desperation, Ao Guang couldn’t help but mutter darkly under his breath, “Damn that old water virtue bastard!!”
Inside the Xuan Dou Palace,
The Water Virtue Star Lord was stunned when he heard this. He seemed unable to believe his ears.
“Lord Jun… is that scoundrel cursing at me?”
Lord Jun nodded solemnly. “Yes. And using some very foul language.”
I’m crying!
The difficulty of this climax is beyond my imagination…
