Having finished dinner at home, Yun Shu immediately changed into her newly drawn Mystic Sound of the Nine Heavens outfit.
The moonlight poured down like water onto her snow-white, wide-sleeved gown woven from celestial silk. The tiny crystals embedded in the hem of her skirt shimmered like stars from the Nine Heavens falling into the mortal realm.
A plain white silk shawl draped over her shoulders like drifting mist. As she walked, it fluttered as if taking flight, tracing elegant curves around her.
A light veil covered her face, and the lily of the valley pattern embroidered with silver thread was faintly visible near her lips.
Above the veil, her eyes were as clear as water, filled with a serene detachment that seemed to look down upon all living things.
A silver forehead ornament rested between her brows. Her long hair was loosely held up by a single Floating Cloud Hairpin, with the rest cascading down to her waist like a waterfall.
Standing in the moonlight, she was utterly untainted by the dust of the world, radiating an ethereal aura of someone untouched by mortal concerns.
“Host, I just added a patch to the surveillance systems in Xindu City and Yecheng. If a disaster beyond human capability occurs, it will trigger an alarm.”
The little fox hopped onto Yun Shu's shoulder.
“That way, we can make it back in time.”
“Mm, let's go then.” Yun Shu stepped onto her flying sword and rode the wind, her figure vanishing into the night.
Over this past period, she had given Xindu City and Yecheng quite a few things here and there, and they needed time to process and utilize them.
In the meantime, she could take advantage of this gap to use her outfits' abilities to alter the environment and resolve the water and mineral issues.
Sending people to prospect for mines would take too long, and there was no way to guarantee the safety of the prospectors.
Although they would eventually have to learn self-reliance, she had never bought into the philosophy that suffering builds success, and she certainly would not use the sacrifice of human lives to force them to grow.
With her here, they could take their time growing.
Nothing was more important than staying alive.
At least, while she still had choices and the power to make them.
She would not abandon a single innocent person, nor would she sacrifice one.
But those were matters for the future.
The most pressing issue right now was not prospecting.
Compared to finding mines, solving the water problem was far more urgent.
Water pollution not only affected people's health but could also trigger many infectious diseases that were difficult to cure in ancient times.
Furthermore, with a severe drought looming in the north, she could not possibly summon rain for them every single day. Sooner or later, they would have to find their own water sources.
Resolving the water pollution in advance brought nothing but benefits.
Flying on her sword while examining her map, Yun Shu finally landed at the upper reaches of the Mohe River, which spanned the entirety of Zhenbei Prefecture.
“Host, this river water is so dirty,” the little fox said, looking at the exceptionally turbid water with utter disgust. “There are not only all kinds of animal carcasses in here, but human corpses too. Oh my god, I can smell the stench. They've been soaking for at least three days. Why don't we just walk along the shore a few times and call it a day?”
Yun Shu shook her head. “System, the skill range of the Level 5 Mystic Sound of the Nine Heavens Set is limited. I have to go into the water to purify this heavily polluted river.”
“Host!”
The little fox was so anxious that it bit her sleeve. “Why don't we go earn some Shock Value first to upgrade the set? That way, you can purify it without even getting into the water.”
It wanted to vomit just from smelling it.
Therefore, it truly could not comprehend how Yun Shu could calmly declare her intention to dive in without even batting an eye.
“System, the citizens of Zhenbei Prefecture's three cities all rely on this river to live. For every day this pollution persists, dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people will fall ill and die in agony from drinking this water.”
“I can wait, but the people cannot.”
With that, Yun Shu reached out, pulled her sleeve free from the little fox's teeth, and walked toward the Mohe River without looking back.
Before the little fox could react,
it heard a splash in the next second.
Its host had already vanished.
The moment she entered the water, the Merfolk Pearl at Yun Shu's waist automatically triggered its skill, conjuring a circular air wall around her to keep the water out and allow her to breathe underwater.
She kicked her legs and swam forward through the water.
The shallow water near the banks was the filthiest.
The mud was filled with broken pottery shards, rotting hemp rags, rusted weapons, and the bloated corpses the system had mentioned.
Yun Shu avoided looking or thinking about it, simply swimming aimlessly through the water, acting as a walking water purifier.
The purification effect of the Mystic Sound of the Nine Heavens Set was exceptional.
Wherever she passed, all the pollutants in the river water were cleared away completely, making it hundreds of times more effective than modern ocean trash skimmers.
The only downside was
that the deeper she went, the scarcer the light became.
Relying solely on the light emitted by her outfit, it was difficult to tell her bearings underwater, and she often ended up swimming in circles.
Just as she was about to make a marker, a white shadow dove down from the surface, its four paws paddling furiously.
The system's voice echoed in her mind. “Host, follow me. I can monitor this river.”
Yun Shu smiled, her lips curving slightly.
“Alright,” she replied to the system in her heart.
The little fox glowed with a faint white light. With it leading the way, she saved both time and effort.
But Zhenbei Prefecture had more than just the Mohe River. It took Yun Shu a full three months to clear up all the rivers.
Immediately after, she took the system and set off without rest on the journey to locate mineral deposits.
The system was completely at its wit's end.
Its host always seemed to have an inexhaustible reservoir of stubborn energy.
It was truly speechless. It had no idea what kind of spell those paper people had cast on her.
Using the Ley Line Map, Yun Shu located a coal mine situated at the border between Xindu City and Yecheng.
The little fox stared at the virtual screen before it.
“Host, I've calculated the location. Just strike with lightning thirty degrees southeast.”
Hearing this, Yun Shu took out the Thunder Decree and, without a second word, summoned lightning down upon the coordinates the system provided.
The extreme heat of the lightning caused the rock face to expand rapidly, cracking bit by bit until the mountainside began to crumble.
Thanks to the system's precise calculations, she used the Thunder Decree to blast open a relatively safe coal mining shaft.
After a moment of thought, Yun Shu took out a White Jade Lily of the Valley, ground it into powder, and scattered it around the shaft.
Since she had upgraded the Mystic Sound of the Nine Heavens Set, the good fortune effect of the handheld piece, the White Jade Lily of the Valley, had extended from seven days to half a year.
“Host, the four-month cooldown is up.”
Hearing this, Yun Shu immediately took out pieces like the Nine-Ear Grain and the Casket of a Hundred Crafts to refresh her items.
...
Two months later.
On the official road outside Chaoyang City, a carriage emerged from around a bend, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The curtain of the carriage was lifted slightly, revealing the passenger inside—a young nobleman dressed in fine silks and a jade belt, his expression filled with impatience.
He spoke with sheer disgust. “What kind of decent academy could a dirt-poor backwater like Yecheng possibly have? My father is truly something else. Just because of a few rumors, he insisted I travel all this way to Yecheng to see what's going on.”
A guard said in a low voice, “Young Master, I heard Yecheng has received the favor of the Divine Lady, and it's doing incredibly well now...”
“The Divine Lady?”
The silk-clad nobleman sneered. “If you ask me, those country bumpkins in Yecheng are probably just hallucinating from starvation.”
“You're right, Young Master,” the guard said with a placating smile. “But Master gave strict orders, so let's just bear with it. We'll stay in Yecheng for two days and then head back to Chaoyang. Otherwise, we won't be able to account to Master.”
The nobleman's brow furrowed. “Two whole days? I don't want to spend even a single second in a place crawling with refugees!”
Rate on N.U.
