He still mustered his spirits, bowed respectfully, and conceded defeat to Xiao Ning.
In that instant, Fahai seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, his entire aura calmed down, and he was no longer as arrogant and imposing as before.
"Little monk, you're not bad either; you're certainly invincible at the Golden Core stage!"
Xiao Ning in the sky slowly concealed his aura, collected all the fruits that had been produced after absorbing the divine power, and walked down step by step, landing on the square.
Seeing him come down, everyone's eyes were filled with awe. In the world of cultivators, only power can earn respect; everything else is insignificant.
"Praise...!"
Fahai instinctively wanted to shout a Buddhist chant, but then realized what he was doing and stopped talking.
He then respectfully asked Xiao Ning, "May I ask, Heavenly Lord, what kind of supernatural power was that just now? Why has this humble monk never seen it before?"
Upon hearing this, the Golden Core Realm cultivators watching from afar all strained their ears, eager to know the origin of this terrifying divine ability.
But Xiao Ning slowly spoke, saying, "What I just used was one of the thirty-six secret divine abilities of Taoism, the Flower Blooms in an Instant!"
"The famous Thirty-Six Heavenly Divine Powers, little monk, you say you haven't heard of them? I don't believe you!"
He turned to look at Fahai, his eyes filled with doubt.
"Heavenly Divine Power? You old bastard Qingfeng, your Taoist sect has been hiding things quite well, you actually have such a good thing!"
"Amitabha! This old Daoist has never heard of any Heavenly Divine Power!"
"Old bastard, stop hiding it, let everyone take a look and figure it out!"
"If the old Taoist says it's not true, then it's true. If the old bald monk doesn't believe it, then so be it!"
A new round of arguments began, while the other Golden Core cultivators seemed thoughtful after hearing Xiao Ning's words.
Clearly, Xiao Ning had been listening to these conversations among Golden Core cultivators, but he simply hadn't paid any attention to them.
Upon hearing their words, Xiao Ning was taken aback.
Fahai shook his head again and said, "This humble monk truly does not know!"
"Never mind then, I'm off!"
Xiao Ning's mind raced, and he quickly grasped the key point.
"Could it be that there are truly no Heavenly Divine Powers or Earthly Fiend Divine Powers in this world?"
After thinking it over, he laughed loudly and flew away.
…………
The Heavenly Court, the Lingxiao Palace.
The Jade Emperor sat high in his golden palace, while people knelt on the ground below.
"Great Heavenly Venerable, please do justice for your humble servant! Your humble servant has not arbitrarily altered the timing of rain. I have always been diligently performing my duties of controlling the clouds and rain. The affairs of Qinghai and Jinling counties in the Song Kingdom have nothing to do with your humble servant!"
Ao Run, the Dragon King of the East Sea and one of the Four Dragon Gods of the Rivers, lamented bitterly.
"Alright, let's get up and talk!"
The Jade Emperor pinched the bridge of his nose and waved his hand.
"Your subject thanks the Great Heavenly Venerable!"
Ao Run stood up and continued:
"Your subject accuses the Heavenly Lord of Dongzhen Du'e of committing a crime! He has arbitrarily altered the timing of rainfall, causing Jinling County, which should have suffered a severe drought for three months, to experience torrential rain, while Qinghai County, which should have experienced five days of downpours, is now bathed in sunshine!"
"This scoundrel is so arrogant, does he even respect the Great Celestial Venerable, and where does he place the Heavenly Rules?"
"Therefore, I beseech the Great Heavenly Venerable to punish him for his crimes, so as to uphold the Heavenly Rules!"
After speaking at length, Ao Run bowed deeply in respect.
Upon hearing this, the courtiers were greatly alarmed and began whispering amongst themselves.
"Did I hear that right? The Heavenly Lord of Dongzhen Du'e was only recently bestowed the title by the Great Heavenly Venerable, and now he's doing something so foolish?"
"How foolish!"
"hey-hey!"
Some were shocked, some shook their heads and sighed, and some sneered in disdain.
The Jade Emperor sat on his throne, silent and expressionless, coldly observing the reactions of his ministers below.
Venus stepped forward and said, "Reporting to the Great Heavenly Venerable, this matter involves a Heavenly Lord and is of great importance. Please investigate and determine the appropriate course of action!"
The Jade Emperor nodded almost imperceptibly.
After making some polite remarks, Venus changed the subject and questioned the Dragon King of the East Sea: "Dragon King of the East Sea, do you have any evidence that the Heavenly Lord of Dongzhen Du'e altered the timing of rain?"
There was no other way; it was Xiao Ning's own doing to be appointed Heavenly Lord, making him a member of the Jade Emperor's faction, so Venus naturally had to defend him.
Ao Run shook his head: "This humble subject has no evidence, but the Heavenly Lord Dongzhen Du'e was present when he captured the demons who were causing havoc in the mortal realm. Tell me, besides this Lord, who in the mortal realm is so audacious?"
Venus glared at him: "Outrageous! Reporting based on hearsay without any solid evidence, you're slandering your colleague! Ao Run, I think you're planning to go to the Dragon-Slaying Platform!"
Ao Run gritted his teeth: "Jin Xing, don't try to pin this on us. If you want to find evidence, just ask your all-seeing and all-hearing eyes to do a search and you'll understand!"