7: Change the rain pattern

The success of the Lesser Heavenly Cycle Spirit Gathering Formation felt like opening a new door on Li Muchen's path of cultivation.

Although the Formation's effect was weak, the speed of gathering Spiritual Qi was agonizingly slow, and the increase in concentration was negligible; for Li Muchen, who was in a spiritual desert, this slight improvement was of extraordinary significance.

This meant he could continuously obtain a bit more supply than the outside world during cultivation; over time, the difference would become apparent.

More importantly, the experience of successfully setting up the Formation gave him a deeper understanding of cultivation.

It was not just about absorbing energy and strengthening oneself, but the first step in trying to understand, utilize, and even change external energy rules on a small scale.

The sense of achievement from using one's will combined with specific methods to stir the external world was far beyond simple power growth.

He shifted the focus of his daily cultivation to the Bluestone Formation Base in the center of the Main Hall. He gathered the Eastern Purple Qi at dawn, drew in the clear Moonlight at night, and during the day, he used the thin Spiritual Qi gathered by the Formation to continuously circulate the Basic Guidance Technique.

The True Qi vortex in his Dantian Qi Sea grew more solid and its circulation became smoother and more natural. From initially needing deliberate guidance, it gradually became a semi-spontaneous state, nourishing his Meridians and Physical Body at all times.

His five senses became sharper under the continuous nourishment of True Qi. He could clearly hear the slight sound of squirrels gnawing on pine nuts in the distant mountain forest, distinguish the subtle differences in the mountain breeze at different times, and even occasionally, in extreme silence, "feel" the incredibly slow yet incredibly thick pulse of the earth beneath his feet—perhaps the faint breathing of the sleeping Earth Veins.

His control over True Qi also became more refined. The Dust Removal Technique could now stably cover an area the size of an Eight Immortals Table and could control the dust to gather without dispersing; his technique for Guiding Qi to Unblock Meridians had also become much more proficient. Although he still didn't dare to easily treat complex injuries on others, he was confident he could better handle sprains and swellings if they occurred again.

The changes in the ancient cypress tree had also not stopped. With daily watering from the Spirit Well and the subtle influence of the Spirit Gathering Formation, the few new tender leaves had unfurled, becoming the size of a baby's palm and dripping with emerald green, appearing full of vitality on the withered black branches.

The bark at the bottom of the main trunk also seemed to have regained some vitality; it no longer felt dry and prickly to the touch but had acquired a bit of warm resilience.

Li Muchen could even vaguely sense an extremely weak yet exceptionally resilient life force slowly awakening and growing within this ancient tree.

The experimental plot where he had sown heart-clearing grass seeds also showed signs of activity after being mixed with spirit soil and watered daily with spirit well water.

Two days ago, several frail, light green sprouts broke through the soil. Though only an inch high, they emitted an extremely faint, ethereal, and peaceful fragrance.

Li Muchen leaned in to sniff and immediately felt his mind clear and his stray thoughts diminish. This heart-clearing grass truly lived up to its name, and it could actually grow in this environment!

Regarding his life, with daily check-ins, he obtained some miscellaneous Materials, a few Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and a "Basic Medicinal Herb Identification Manual." Combined with the food occasionally sent by the villagers, he no longer had to worry about survival. He even used the millet he traded for to clear two small vegetable patches by the Spirit Well, sowing seeds for cabbage and radishes to try his hand at gardening.

Everything seemed to be heading in a good direction. Qingfeng Temple was still dilapidated, but the well water was always clear, and there were spots of new green. The young Temple Master cultivated and worked every day, living a peaceful and fulfilling life.

However, it seemed the heavens did not want this desolate mountain to remain peaceful forever.

This afternoon, Li Muchen was in the Main Hall, holding a Low-Grade Spirit Stone and concentrating on his cultivation within the Spirit Gathering Formation. Suddenly, a dull roll of thunder rumbled from the distant horizon.

He opened his eyes and walked outside the hall. In the southeast, a large expanse of lead-gray clouds was rapidly piling up and spreading over, and the sky darkened at a pace visible to the naked eye. The mountain wind also became brisk and humid, carrying the scent of soil and rain.

"It's going to rain." Li Muchen frowned. The roof Iron Pillar had repaired could withstand light rain, but looking at the thickness and momentum of these clouds, it would likely be a significant thunderstorm. Moreover, the direction the clouds were moving seemed to be right toward Zhaojiaao Village down the mountain.

Sure enough, in less than half an hour, the dark clouds had pressed down overhead. The gale whipped up dust and fallen leaves, and the sky became as dark as evening. A blinding flash of lightning tore through the sky, followed by a thunderclap that made the dilapidated temple seem to shake.

Raindrops the size of beans pattered down. Sparse at first, they turned into a dense curtain of rain in an instant. Rainwater seeped through the gaps in the newly repaired tiles, forming small puddles on the hall floor and dripping noisily.

More rainwater poured in through the unrepaired holes, and Li Muchen had to quickly move his bedding and belongings to a relatively dry corner.

He stood at the entrance of the Main Hall, looking at the white expanse of the rain curtain outside. The rain pounded on the tiles, the ground, and the wild grass, making a loud rushing sound.

The mountain path quickly became muddy and impassable, and water began to pool in low-lying areas. The mouth of the Spirit Well was quickly filled by the rain, and the overflowing well water mixed with mud and flowed toward lower ground.

"What a heavy rain..." Li Muchen murmured to himself. This rain might be a blessing for the long-parched mountain forest, but what about the village down the mountain?

He remembered Zhao Desheng mentioning that Zhaojiaao Village was situated on lower ground and had a seasonal stream nearby. It was usually dry, but once it rained heavily, the mountain water from upstream would gather and easily overflow the simple embankments, flooding the lowest-lying houses and some farmland. This happened once or twice every summer and autumn in previous years.

Sure enough, after about an hour of rain, the intensity showed no signs of decreasing; instead, it grew even more fierce. Thunder rolled, and lightning occasionally illuminated the dark rain curtain. Li Muchen could even hear a low roar from the distance, different from the sound of rain—the sound of mountain floods beginning to gather.

He felt a faint sense of unease. Although he didn't have much contact with the villagers, Zhao Desheng's enthusiasm and the simple help from the villagers made him feel well-disposed toward the small village down the mountain.

Just as he was hesitating whether to do something, a figure stumbled up the mountain path through the rain curtain, running toward the temple. The person had no rain gear, was soaked to the bone, and was staggering—it was Zhao Desheng!

"Old Uncle Zhao!" Li Muchen called out hurriedly.

Zhao Desheng ran to the Mountain Gate, leaning against a crumbling wall and gasping for breath. Rainwater streamed down his gray hair and beard, and his face was a blur of rain and sweat, filled with anxiety.

"Temple... Temple Master! It's bad! The mountain floods... the floods are coming down! At the Old Locust Tree at the village entrance, the water is already knee-deep! Several houses are flooded! If it keeps raining like this, I'm afraid something terrible will happen!"

Li Muchen's heart sank. "Has the village organized people to block the water?"

"We have! The young men are over there using sandbags to build a dam, but the water is too fierce, and several batches of sandbags have been washed away! The rain is too heavy, and water is still pouring down from the mountain; we just can't stop it!" Zhao Desheng stamped his feet in frustration. "I... I really have no other choice. I remembered you are a capable person, Temple Master. Can you... can you think of a way to make this rain... a bit lighter? Or make the water less forceful?"

Make the rain lighter? Li Muchen gave a bitter smile. He was just a Qi Refining Cultivator who had just started; how could he influence such a force of nature? Calling the wind and summoning the rain? Those were things only those with great Divine Abilities in myths and legends could do.

But looking at Zhao Desheng's desperate yet hopeful eyes, hearing the roar of the rushing flood faintly coming from the distant rain curtain, and thinking of the houses, fields, and even lives that might be submerged down the mountain... he could not just stand by and watch.

Perhaps... he couldn't stop the rain, but what if he only influenced the water vapor in a very small area, slightly changing the intensity or flow of the falling rain? He had just broken through to the "Heavenly Cycle" stage of "Refining Essence into Qi," and his control over True Qi had greatly increased. With the assistance of the Spirit Gathering Formation... a nearly crazy and uncertain thought sprouted in his mind.

"Old Uncle Zhao, don't panic yet," Li Muchen said in a deep voice, trying to appear calm. "I... can try. But I have no certainty of success. Please wait here for a moment."

After saying that, he turned and rushed back into the Main Hall, sat cross-legged on the Bluestone Formation Base, and operated his Cultivation Technique with all his might. At the same time, he held a Low-Grade Spirit Stone in each hand, frantically absorbing the Spiritual Qi within to replenish the True Qi he had just consumed due to his emotional agitation and rapid running, striving to adjust his state to its Peak.

The slight boost from the Spirit Gathering Formation, combined with the pure Spiritual Qi in the Spirit Stones, quickly filled his parched Dantian, making it even more swollen than usual.

A moment later, he stood up abruptly and walked back out into the torrential rain.

The rain soaked him instantly, but he was completely oblivious, his entire focus concentrated. He looked up at the gray, low-hanging rain clouds that seemed to press down on his head, elevating his spiritual sense to the limit.

Rain... water vapor... the massive and chaotic water-element energy contained within the clouds... he tried to sense it, to understand it. Cultivating the Basic Guidance Technique was originally about communicating with the aura of heaven and earth.

In this torrential rain environment, his perception of the dense water vapor in the air was exceptionally clear. He could even vaguely "feel" the unstoppable water-element power rolling, colliding, and venting within the rain clouds.

To influence it, even just a small patch, was like an ant trying to shake a giant tree.

But Li Muchen did not back down. He recalled the concepts of harmonizing breath and guiding energy from the Basic Guidance Technique, and the feeling of using his own True Qi to clear and soothe clogged Qi and blood when he practiced Guiding Qi to Unblock Meridians.

He mobilized all the True Qi in his Dantian without reservation, circulating it at high speed through his Meridians. Then, cautiously, he "sent" out a wisp of extremely pure True Qi—which condensed all his intentions of "soothing," "guiding," and "returning to the flow," mixed with a faint resonance he felt with the world's water vapor—slowly and tentatively toward the edge of the clouds directly above, which were pouring rain toward the temple and the hollow.

This was not an attack, nor a summons, but more like a... request? Or rather, a clumsy attempt to "communicate" and "guide" a grand force of heaven and earth with his own meager power.

The True Qi left his body and vanished into the vast rain curtain and heavy clouds like a clay ox entering the sea, instantly losing all connection.

Li Muchen's face turned pale as his mind suffered a slight backlash.

Did he fail?

Just as his heart sank, suddenly—

He keenly noticed that the small patch of rain curtain, about ten feet in diameter directly above him, seemed... to have thinned out by a tiny bit? The force of the raindrops hitting the ground also seemed to have weakened by a negligible amount?

It wasn't an illusion! He concentrated his mind and sensed carefully. Yes! Although the change was extremely small, it did exist! Moreover, as he continuously and regardless of the cost outputted that True Qi carrying his specific intent, the change seemed to be expanding and deepening extremely slowly!

What he was "communicating with" or "influencing" was not the entire rain cloud, but a negligible wisp of water vapor within the massive cloud that happened to be passing over the temple and pouring down rain!

He couldn't stop the rain or disperse the clouds, but he seemed able to use his True Qi as a guide, combined with his faint perception of water vapor and his guiding intent, to slightly "moderate" the intensity of the rain passing through this small area! It was like using a tiny twig to barely nudge the direction of the water at the edge of a rushing flood.

At the same time, he felt that within the surging water vapor and rushing flood toward the village, a trace of the violent "intent" was attracted and soothed by his weak yet resilient "guiding" intent. It actually deviated slightly from its original most violent impact direction, diverting a negligible amount of water toward the nearby slightly higher, uninhabited wasteland.

This change was a drop in the bucket for the overall situation.

But for the villagers struggling in the flood down the mountain, it might be the removal of the last straw that breaks the camel's back; it might be that the rate of the water level rising in front of the dam slowed down by a breath; it might be that the height of the water flooding the houses was an inch lower!

Li Muchen didn't know exactly what was happening down the mountain. He just grit his teeth, ignoring his Dantian's True Qi rapidly hitting rock bottom, ignoring the stabbing pain in his head from overexertion, and ignoring the cold rain washing over his body, as he poured all his mind and remaining True Qi into this clumsy and persistent "guidance."

This was all he could do.

Time passed bit by bit, every second feeling incredibly long.

Finally, when the last trace of True Qi in Li Muchen's body was exhausted, his vision went dark, and he could barely stand. The thunder in the sky gradually receded, and the clouds seemed to thin out. The torrential rain gradually turned into moderate rain, and after a while, it became a pitter-patter of light rain.

The rain had really weakened!

Zhao Desheng had been waiting anxiously nearby. Seeing the rain clearly diminishing and then looking at Li Muchen, who was as pale as paper and swaying, he seemed to understand something. His old eyes were filled with shock and gratitude. His lips trembled as he tried to say something, but no sound came out.

Li Muchen leaned against the doorframe and weakly waved his hand, indicating he was fine. He looked down the mountain tiredly; the rain curtain was hazy, making it impossible to see the specific situation.

But in his heart, he had a faint sensation—the violent and surging water vapor down the mountain seemed to have... calmed down a bit.

He didn't know how much effect his attempt had actually had; perhaps it was just a coincidence, and the rain had naturally weakened.

But regardless, the rain had lessened.

He staggered back to a dry spot in the Main Hall, unable to hold on any longer. He sat cross-legged and immediately entered a deep state of breath regulation.

Outside the hall, the light rain pitter-pattered, washing the mountain forest.

The new leaves of the ancient cypress tree became even more emerald green under the nourishment of the rain. The water droplets condensed on the leaves were crystal clear, as if they also carried a faint spiritual glow.

From the direction of Zhaojiaao Village down the mountain, the shouts and busy sounds of people who had survived the disaster vaguely drifted up the mountain with the wind.