In ancient times, they secretly became gods in the deep mountains.

Chapter 13 Exchanging Puppets

Seeing the villagers' withered and emaciated appearance, Gu Yuexi said, "After the torrential rain a few days ago, many wild vegetables grew on the mountain. You can take them to fill your stomachs. After I solve the source of the drought, you can try to plant crops."

[The host has accumulated 480 points of Faith]

The villagers trembled with gratitude.

If one day they return to a normal life, with food to eat and water to drink, they will surely build a temple for the Golden Saint Goddess and offer incense to her every day.

"It's getting late, you should dig up some wild vegetables and head down the mountain." The wild animals haven't awakened yet, and with her here, evil spirits won't come near, but it's not safe to go down the mountain in the dark.

The villagers felt a gentle force lifting them up.

"Yes, Your Majesty, we will descend the mountain as soon as possible."

Zhang Youhe said to the villagers, "Go and dig for wild vegetables. Remember not to go too far. Let's go down the mountain early so as not to disturb the goddess's peace."

The villagers' faces lit up with joy.

"Yes, yes, village chief, we'll act quickly."

"Time to dig for wild vegetables! Time to dig for wild vegetables!"

Zhang Gousheng and several of his peers jumped up excitedly.

Fresh wild vegetables, glistening with dewdrops, exude a delicate fragrance that is refreshing and invigorating.

A villager carefully dug it up by the roots. Starving, she stuffed the roots, still covered in soil, into her mouth. The abundant moisture and the fresh aroma of the wild vegetables startled her.

Then, she started to sob.

Before sunset, the villagers returned home laden with their harvest.

Gu Yuexi watched them return safely to the village, then looked away from the water mirror.

[Host, your Faith Power has exceeded 500.]

Gu Yuexi looked at it and saw it was 502.

"Zero One, can you find out the cause of the drought?"

[Sorry, host, the system's current divine power can only perceive a range of about 100 feet around us; it can't even leave the Seven Emperors Mountain.]

"How can I restore your divine power?"

This can only be done when the host reaches the Foundation Establishment stage.

"It takes at least ten years to go from the first level of Qi Refining to the Foundation Establishment stage."

It took her ten years to reach the Foundation Establishment stage.

With a superior-grade Water and Wood spiritual root, one can earn spirit stones by completing sect missions, and even obtain some cultivation resources from generous senior brothers and sisters.

After reaching the sixth level of Qi Refining, she went out to gain experience on several occasions.

Nevertheless, it still took her ten years to go from the first level of Qi Refining to the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

[As long as the host diligently acquires faith power, the mere Foundation Establishment stage will take less than ten years.]

The system spoke with absolute certainty.

The system is right, she is now a Holy Spirit Root cultivator. [The host received 500 Faith Points from the villagers. Would you like the system to help her exchange them for a first-tier spiritual vein?]

First-order spiritual veins can prolong life for mortals, but in the cultivation world, only small families with Foundation Establishment experts possess a few of them.

The spiritual vein is constantly filled with spiritual energy, and a first-order spiritual vein has the opportunity to produce spirit stone mines, which produce low-grade spirit stones. Although it cannot raise her level by several levels at once, it is better than nothing for her at the moment.

Converting faith power into a first-tier spiritual vein is an excellent choice.

After careful consideration, Gu Yuexi decided not to exchange for the spiritual vein.

"Zero One, can I exchange for a puppet?"

[The system can exchange any cultivation resources as long as your faith power is below 500. However, depending on your faith power, you can only exchange for five puppets at the third level of Qi Refining.]

Five puppets at the third level of Qi Refining?
What are you waiting for!
"I want to redeem it."

The system is puzzled:

[Why would the host exchange for a puppet? The host has no enemies within the Divine Palace and does not need a protector. Currently, the host's greatest need is spiritual energy. Shouldn't the host exchange for cultivation resources such as spiritual veins or spirit stones?]

"I have another idea about how to obtain spiritual energy." Gu Yuexi looked at the crimson sun in the water mirror and curled the corners of her lips.

【What? 】

Gu Yuexi said, "In the cultivation world, the spiritual energy contained in the essence of the sun and moon is vast. I have spent hundreds of years absorbing the essence of the sun and moon, and as a result, the spiritual energy in my body is often stronger than that of sect disciples of the same cultivation level."

【Then what? 】

The system nodded. The spiritual energy of the sun and moon is vast and pure. Absorbing the essence of the sun and moon over many years can indeed achieve the effect the host described.

It seems its host has seen a lot of the world.

With such extensive knowledge and talent, it's clear it was the right person to be paired with.

Gu Yuexi continued:

"The sixteen prefectures in the northwest have suffered from drought for three years, with the seasons in disarray and the sun blazing in all four seasons. The effect of the three rain-bringing talismans is negligible. The root cause is that the sun's heat is too intense, drying up the moisture in the air, causing plants to wither and rivers to dry up, thus creating a drought."

"Therefore, to solve the drought, we must first weaken the sun's heat. The only way now is for me to absorb and refine all the sun's purest and most abundant excess heat!"

[Host, this is an extremely dangerous move. You are only at the first level of Qi Refining. If you forcibly refine the vast amount of pure solar energy, you will surely explode and die!]

[The system's divine power is insufficient; it cannot save the host once more.]

"Logically speaking, my body has undergone 100,000 years of cultivation. Even without spiritual power, it should be stronger than the average body cultivator in the cultivation world. Body cultivators can absorb the essence of the sun and moon from the very beginning of their cultivation. Why can't I follow suit?"

The tribulation lightning shattered all her cultivation and spiritual power, causing her to fail the tribulation. However, she clearly felt that her body's meridians were not much weaker than before.

[The system will first help the host internally examine the meridians within the body.]

"How is it?" Gu Yuexi asked softly.

The host's physique is indeed hundreds of times stronger than that of an ordinary human.

Gu Yuexi nodded: "It seems that my method of absorbing solar heat to replenish spiritual energy is worth a try."

(End of this chapter)