Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 472 A Reprimand to the Priest
Many deities in the city have now received notification that Lu Zheng has received an imperial edict from the Chu Emperor, authorizing him to conduct judicial proceedings.

If anyone commits a crime and falls into Lu Zheng's hands, they will be killed and there will be no one to plead for them.

In one instance, the city god of a certain place was wiped out by Lu Zheng without even going through the proper procedures.

These gods have lived for so long, and they have rarely encountered such a situation.

But they were all shrewd and understood that the Chu Emperor intended to use a foreign sword to slay the local god.

Perhaps the Emperor of Great Chu granted Lu Zheng such judicial power on a whim.

But these righteous gods only have one life, so there's no need for them to go against Lu Zheng at this time.

As for those stubborn local deities and officials, they can only pray for their own good fortune.

The order from the city god of the prefecture was quickly relayed to the county where Lu Zheng was located.

Soon, the city's divine officials sprang into action, and even the gods who were usually revered and worshipped in their own temples came forward.

The acting city god first arrested those involved in the buying and selling of grain seeds, and some officials and wealthy households were imprisoned.

Then, a group of divine officials were busy going to various places to provide disaster relief and distribute grain and seeds.

……

The demon held Lu Zheng's cultivation manual and, under Lu Zheng's guidance, soon mastered the basics.

With proper cultivation techniques, the demon felt that his mixed demonic energy had lessened.

Seeing this, he was certain that Lu Zhengzhen had not lied to the demon; this technique was indeed extraordinary.

At this moment, a priest approached timidly and said, "Young Master Lu... those people say they want to see you. They want to go back to their village and don't want to come with us..."

The priest wanted to settle the people in the city, but no one was willing to go, and he didn't dare to use force.

Unable to persuade him immediately, he was chosen by the other priests to report the situation to Lu Zheng.

After listening to the priest's story, Lu Zheng thought for a moment and said, "It's hard to leave one's homeland... In that case, take the people back to the village, help them repair the village, and try to restore their lives and production as much as possible."

"Yes," the priest replied hastily.

Upon hearing this, the demon beside him said, "I am skilled in earth magic, I can go and help!"

At this moment, the monster also wanted to show off.

Lu Zheng glanced at the monster and said, "Go with him. How far you can cultivate in the future depends on yourself."

The monster quickly stood up, bowed to Lu Zheng, and then followed the priest away.

Not far away, Qingwan whispered, "He's quite the clever demon; now he's gotten involved with the priest."

Lu Zheng said slowly, "Opportunity is for those who are prepared... He has the intelligence; hopefully, he can get on the right path."

Qingwan then looked at Qingyi and asked, "Oh, by the way, does she want to eat? What should we feed her? Are you hungry?"

Qingyi stared at Qingwan without saying anything.

Lu Zheng pondered for a moment. None of the Yunmeng Sect's records mentioned how to raise drought demons. These naturally born creatures probably don't eat ordinary things, right?

As soon as Lu Zheng had a thought, a wisp of righteous energy containing Yang fire floated in front of Qing Yi.

Qingyi looked at the flickering flames in front of her and couldn't help but sniff.

The flames were instantly absorbed into Qingyi's body and slowly merged into her body.

After examining her, Lu Zheng found that Qingyi did not have any symptoms of discomfort.

Qingwan, standing to the side, clicked her tongue in amazement, "You can eat fire?"

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "That person is a near-sixth-realm drought demon. If he can fully control his own power, he can easily reach the sixth-realm Profound Realm..."

His flames might harm other beings, but to this drought demon born of heaven and earth, they meant nothing.

Qingwan felt a little envious upon hearing this. This person was born with a higher cultivation level than them; he was simply exceptionally gifted.

Suddenly, a wave emanated from Qingyi, radiating a scorching aura.

Qingwan couldn't stand the heat and quickly circulated her power to resist it.

Lu Zheng reacted swiftly, suppressing Qingyi's power and teaching her the Qi-gathering technique once again.

Lu Zhengdao said, "Her condition is still unstable, so we can't feed her casually. You should take her to the small sanctuary and take good care of her..."

Qingwan nodded and said, "Okay."

With a thought, Lu Zheng led the three of them into the small world, arriving at a location from the previous scroll secret realm.

A volcanic training ground is a perfect place for Qingyi to stay.

Of course, the purpose is for Qingyi to stay here, not for her to cultivate here.

Even if Qingyi loses control of her power here, the surrounding environment will not be greatly affected.

Lu Zheng took out an array plate to isolate the surrounding fire elemental energy, preventing Qingyi from absorbing it at will.

Then, Lu Zheng gave Qing Wan some instructions before leaving the small world.

Lu Zheng moved swiftly to find the common people and the priests.

Nestled in the mountains, a village lies in ruins, destroyed by a wildfire.

Many people couldn't help but feel their eyes red with tears when they saw their homes burned to the ground.

But life had to go on, and they braved the scorching sun to tend to their dilapidated homes.

When Lu Zheng arrived in the village, he saw many villagers busy cleaning up their destroyed houses and searching for their burned belongings. Several priests stood there, unsure of how to help.

When they saw Lu Zheng approaching, all the officials were startled.

Lu Zheng said calmly, "You can't even do any work, all you do is suck blood?"

Upon hearing this, one of the priests said timidly, "Young Master Lu, we are not demons or ghosts, but proper officials. How could we suck blood?"

The other priests all turned to look at the speaker, thinking, "If you can't speak, then don't speak. That was just a metaphor."

Another priest quickly added, "Building houses is a craftsman's art, which we truly lack expertise in. We fear that the houses we construct will not be sturdy enough. We humbly request Young Master Lu's guidance..."

Lu Zhengdao said, "Go and help plow the fields and clean up the rubbish in the village. You can do these kinds of jobs, right? If you can't do them, can't you at least watch and learn?"

Lu Zheng knows these things, but if he does all the work, what's the point of having these priests?
Lu Zheng told the people to rest first and let them teach the priests how to do things.

Lu Zheng also specifically selected a few shrewd-looking villagers to teach these priests chores.

Under Lu Zheng's supervision, these priests dared not slack off and worked very hard.

They were afraid that Lu Zheng would be dissatisfied and would draw his sword and kill them.

When the acting city god arrived with some subordinate officials, he saw many people watching several gods perform magic to plow the land.

The arriving agents of the City God and others were completely stunned.

When Lu Zheng saw that more divine officials were coming, and there was a large group of them, he went straight to greet them.

When the acting City God saw Lu Zheng, he knew without even guessing who he was.

He quickly bowed politely and said, "I am the acting City God appointed by the City God of the prefecture, temporarily handling the affairs of the City God."

"We have investigated the matter of the previous City God stealing and selling grain seeds, apprehended the relevant criminals, and recovered the grain seeds..."

"This time, we also brought grain seeds that the local people need..."

Fearing that Lu Zheng would cause trouble, the acting City God revealed some of the matters he had been handling.

Lu Zheng smiled slightly upon hearing this and said, "So it turns out that you priests are quite efficient when it comes to getting things done."

The acting City God smiled apologetically, "The previous City God failed in his duty and made a fool of himself in front of Young Master Lu."

Lu Zheng then said, “You’ve come at the right time. The village here has been burned to the ground and we are in dire need of manpower to help rebuild it. You all have great abilities, so please lend a hand.”

"Great supernatural power..." The group of gods and officials muttered to themselves, "All of us combined probably wouldn't be as good as Lu Zheng."

Upon hearing this, the acting City God replied, "It is only right. The people are suffering from disaster, and we should do our best to help them."

The acting city god hurriedly instructed his subordinates to do their work.

The officials dared not slack off; some went to cut down trees nearby, some went to find stones, and some went to cultivate fields and sow grain seeds.

Everyone used their unique abilities and magic to quickly rebuild the village.

The villagers were seeing this scene for the first time, and they were all amazed.

With the concerted efforts of officials and the people, a brand-new village rose from the ground, and it was built even better than the previous village.

Lu Zheng had an idea and carved a stone tablet, which was then erected at the entrance of the village.

He looked at the assembled priests and said slowly, "You gentlemen have rebuilt the homes of the disaster-stricken people; such deeds should be passed down to future generations. I, in my humble capacity, have erected this monument and written this inscription for posterity to admire..."

Lu Zheng looked at the stone tablet again. "Many things happened today, unforgettable. I hope that when I come to Chu in the future, I will see this tablet again and recall the past..."

The acting city god and others kept their eyes downcast, thinking to themselves that Lu Zhengming, a young man, was more adept at using his skills to intimidate people than the big shots in the prefecture.

In this way, if something happens to the people in this area in the future, and Lu Zheng finds out later, he will definitely hold them responsible.

The acting city god hurriedly said, "It is our good fortune to be able to rebuild a village with such a prodigy as Young Master Lu."

Lu Zheng said calmly, "The suffering of the people is not a fortunate thing."

The acting City God's expression froze; this attempt at flattery had backfired...

The other officials nearby instinctively leaned back, trying to keep their distance from the two men.

The acting City God gave an awkward smile and said, "That's not what I meant."

Lu Zheng didn't want to embarrass this person, so he said instead, "Let's go and see the other villages. Since you've come all here, you should learn more about the people's lives and conditions."

Seeing that Lu Zheng had spoken, no one dared to object.

So Lu Zheng bid farewell to the villagers and left with the acting city god and other officials.

The crowd watched Lu Zheng leave with gratitude, and even after he disappeared into the night, no one moved their eyes.

Even at night, the newly built village still glitters with light.

"looks like?"

"They look very similar! Let's go, let's carry them to the village entrance!"

The villagers were overjoyed and carried a stone statue to the village entrance, next to the stone tablet.

It is a stone statue carved by the village's old stonemason, and the image carved is of Lu Zheng.

Although Lu Zheng said he was not a god, the people felt that Lu Zheng was even more remarkable than a god, so they made a stone statue of Lu Zheng and placed it outside the village to protect it.

A crowd of people knelt before the stone statue, offering their sincere prayers.

In the distance, Lu Zheng sensed something, glanced in the direction of the mountain village, and then slowly withdrew his gaze.

(End of this chapter)