Black Pot worried about Chen Shi's safety and tried to push forward, but immediately pairs of eyes swept toward it.
Black Pot's heart jumped. These people were all experts accumulated by the Xu Family over six thousand years, ghost gods who had long enjoyed incense offerings, powerful and formidable.
Cultivators' cultivation realms had an upper limit—cultivating to the Great Ascension Realm was the peak—but ghost gods' cultivation had no limit. The more incense offerings they enjoyed and the longer the time, the stronger their cultivation became.
At this moment outside the city, there were thousands of Xu Family ghost gods, among which were those whose cultivation surpassed the Great Ascension Realm, presumably judges or Tai Ao from the underworld, commanding the faith of countless ghosts, monsters, and ghost gods.
"So it's just a dog. No problem."
They met Black Pot's gaze, one after another dismissing their doubts and withdrawing their eyes.
Black Pot relaxed slightly and pushed forward.
"Don't crowd."
An Xu Family expert said with displeasure, "Ahead is the ancestral masters' territory; you can't squeeze in even if you try... Oh, it's Senior Pot. Senior Pot, stand in front of me. Senior Pot might not know, but Chen Shi came to block our Lingzhou City and challenge our entire Xu Family—utterly arrogant."
He suppressed his anger and said, "Our ancestors are racking their brains trying to break his Dao Field. Otherwise, if this gets out, our Xu Family will likely be ridiculed!"
Black Pot looked at him doubtfully.
That Xu Family expert said, "Senior might not know, but his challenge follows the rules, so it's not convenient to drive him away by force. Similar incidents have happened many times before. The host family tries to break the setup. If they can't, they must properly admit defeat and send the challenger away..."
Another Xu Family expert nearby said unhappily, "Keep your voices down... Oh, it's Senior Pot. Senior, I've long heard of your reputation!"
That Xu Family expert blushed and said, "I didn't see Senior; that was my oversight. Does Senior want to stand here? This door-blocking custom is an unwritten agreement. I heard that in the Southern Alliance Province, there was a small family clan called the Xue Family. One day, a monk came and sat in front of the Xue Family gate, placed a wooden fish on their main door, and didn't speak or move—just sat there blocking the front entrance.
"The Xue Family members were furious. A servant kicked the wooden fish but didn't send it flying; instead, his leg broke. The Xue Family was alarmed and only then realized someone had come to block their door. All of the Xue Family's experts tried in turn to move that wooden fish away, but no one could lift it. That monk blocked the Xue Family gate for a hundred days. Anyone from the Xue Family who wanted to leave had to go out the back door, causing a huge loss of face."
Black Pot asked, "Woof?"
"Later? Later, an elder from our Xu Family passed through the Southern Alliance Province, heard about this, and went to the Xue Family to lift that wooden fish. Upon inquiry, he learned the monk was from the Water Moon Holy Land. The reason for blocking the door was that the monk had traveled widely in his youth, passed through there, and was humiliated by the Xue Family when he begged for alms."
That Xu Family expert said, "The monk was young and weak back then. Later, he took the imperial exams, ranked well in the Monastic Records Office, returned to the Water Moon Holy Land to become a great monk lecturer, greatly increased his cultivation, and came back to avenge the humiliation of years past. This kind of custom has long existed. On the surface, it seems harmonious and polite, but hidden danger lurks—it can destroy the reputation the family clan has built over centuries with a single misstep! Our Xu Family has dealt with similar situations many times. Chen Shi is imitating them—how audacious!"
Someone nearby said, "His grandfather once caused a ruckus in the Western Capital and was forced away by our Xu Family's ancestor. Now he comes to block the door for revenge. But our Xu Family produces expert after expert. The Yin-Yang Two Scenes Diagram was created by our Xu Family's founding ancestor. How could he compare to us?"
"Using the Yin-Yang Two Scenes Diagram to challenge our Xu Family is truly showing off in front of an expert—overestimating himself!"
A woman said indignantly, "Once we break his Yin-Yang Dao Field, we must humiliate him thoroughly!"
Black Pot inquired among the surrounding Xu Family experts and learned the rules of this door-blocking custom clearly.
Door-blocking was a form of civil contest. The challenger would come to block the door and set down their terms. The blocked party would then try to break the setup. If they couldn't, they wouldn't resort to force but would properly admit defeat, apologize, or offer some valuables to settle the matter.
If the blocked party broke the challenger's puzzle, the challenger wouldn't linger. They would often kneel and apologize, and for as many days as they had blocked the door, they would kneel in front of it for the same number of days to show sincerity.
Black Pot hesitated. With so many Xu Family experts here, if it walked over now and told them that Chen Shi wasn't blocking the door but comprehending the Dao, would the Xu Family become enraged and kill them all?
It craned its neck to look. The Xu Family seemed to be behaving properly, earnestly trying to break Chen Shi's Yin-Yang Dao Field, so it relaxed.
"Elder Huai Su has gone up!"
The Xu Family expert beside it said excitedly, "Elder Huai Su observed Chen Shi's Dao Field for a long time and has now gone up. He must be fully confident!"
Black Pot craned its neck to watch. Xu Huai Su was a ghost god, his aura extremely imposing, with yin and yang energy swirling around him, clearly having cultivated the Yin-Yang Two Scenes Diagram.
This man had considerable skill, using yin-yang transformations to constrain Chen Shi's Yin-Yang Dao Field.
"Elder Huai Su has the upper hand!"
The Xu Family expert beside it said excitedly, "Elder Huai Su's yin-yang transformations come in two forms: pure yang and pure yin. Chen Shi hasn't severed the Three Corpses and can't achieve pure yang—he will surely lose."
Suddenly, Xu Huai Su's face turned ashen, his body shook violently, and his Golden Body cracked with a creaking sound, covered in fissures.
The four ancestral masters Xu Xiaoshu and Xu Henshui, sitting nearby, took action to rescue him, suppressing the momentum of his Golden Body shattering. Xu Huai Su was utterly dejected and cried out, "This is unreasonable! He hasn't severed the Three Corpses and hasn't achieved pure yang—how can he achieve yin-yang harmony and mutual reinforcement? I can't do it! I can't do it! Hahahaha, it's fake, it must be fake!"
Xu Henshui sighed, waved his hand, and signaled for the Xu Family members to carry him away.
"Chen, don't be arrogant! Let me test you!"
Another Xu Family ghost god stepped forward. Yin and yang energy swirled around him, forming sun and moon phenomena. He walked up to Chen Shi and sat down, laughing, "Huai Su changed his path midway, only starting to cultivate the Yin-Yang Two Scenes Diagram at the Body Unification realm. But I have practiced it since childhood. In yin-yang skill, no one surpasses me!"
A moment later, that ghost god's Golden Body dimmed, the light behind his head darkened, his extraordinary power rapidly drained, and his Golden Body began to dissolve. He cried out, "This is unreasonable, this is unreasonable!"
Xu Henshui sighed again and waved his hand, saying, "Take him away."
Black Pot observed for a long time. The Xu Family clearly had enormous power, stronger strength, and a sea of experts, but they still followed the rules, one after another stepping forward to debate the Dao with Chen Shi instead of overpowering him with force. It felt a bit of admiration for this ancient family clan.
However, every Xu Family member who went up either went mad or suffered severe damage to their Dao Heart, making Black Pot uneasy, uncertain how long the Xu Family's gentlemanly conduct could last.
Black Pot looked at the Xu Family expert beside it. That Xu Family expert understood and said, "There seem to be mountains that suddenly appeared near Lingzhou. I heard one of the ancestors mention yesterday that a mountain had grown next to him. Senior Pot, I'll ask for you."
Black Pot nodded slightly and then looked at another person.
The Xu Family cultivators around it were very enthusiastic, actively helping it inquire.
The Xu Family's ghost gods came from all over the underworld, and Lingzhou was the Xu Family's territory, so they knew every detail about whether any mountains or ancient temples had suddenly appeared within their jurisdiction.
In about half a day, Black Pot had gathered information on up to nine new mountains and ancient temples within Lingzhou's borders.
It quickly recorded this and marked them on the Topographic Map.
Its stomach growled with hunger, so it returned to the city, ate and drank its fill at the Xu Family's banquet, then came back to continue observing.
The next day, the Xu Family still couldn't break Chen Shi's Dao Field.
On the third day, Chen Shi sat there, with only one or two Xu Family members occasionally going up to challenge him, but all ended in defeat.
On the fourth day, only one person challenged Chen Shi.
On the fifth day, the entire Xu Family fell into silence. No one else shouted about breaking Chen Shi's Dao Field. They returned to Lingzhou City, dejection and despondency written on every Xu Family member's face.
The sixth day, the seventh day, the eighth day, the ninth day...
The atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive, increasingly despairing.
Black Pot went to the Xu Family's kitchen, cooked a few dishes for itself, and ate while secretly worrying. This silence might push the Xu Family to extremes.
It had only managed to eat to about eighty percent full when a young man's voice called out, "I'll break him! Even if my yin-yang Dao skill isn't as good as his, maybe I'll get lucky and stumble upon a solution!"
He rushed out of Lingzhou City.
More Xu Family young people were inspired by him and charged out after him, shouting, "Well said! How do I know I'll lose if I don't try?"
Black Pot followed. Soon, these young people were either mad, dazed, insane, or spitting blood—every single one suffered a crushing defeat.
The Xu Family sank into an even more despairing atmosphere.
Two more days passed, and within the Xu Family, someone discussed, "Now is a time of great chaos. Why should we maintain gentlemanly conduct? Why not charge out and cut that Chen fellow into pieces with random blades? If we kill him, as long as we don't tell anyone and annihilate all the nearby ghost gods, ghosts, and spirits, who will ever know?"
"I've been thinking the same thing!"
Each secretly carried magic treasures out of the city, one person per item.
The Xu Family had many magic treasures, all long steeped in incense offerings and immensely powerful.
However, their movements could hardly escape the notice of the Xu Family's ancestral masters! Although these ancestral masters saw their actions, they did not step forward to stop them.
They quickly arrived at the hibiscus tree, only to find it empty. Chen Shi and the Wooden Cart had vanished without a trace.
Their faces fell in dejection, and they returned to the city, utterly dispirited.
Chen Shi had blocked Lingzhou City for twelve days before finally leaving.
The Xu Family's face was likely ruined beyond recovery. From now on, even little ghosts would know that Chen Shi had blocked Lingzhou's gate for twelve days, and the Xu Family could do nothing.
Just then, a gust of yin wind swept through, stirring up countless dead branches and fallen leaves on the ground. Several ghost gods flew past silently.
Black Pot sat on the Wooden Cart, repeatedly urging it to speed up, faster and faster.
Its heart was frantic with anxiety. It thought, "The Xu Family has gone through ridicule, doubt, belief, fear, despair, and madness. Now they've reached the point of madness—the next step will be to abandon moral constraints and silence everyone by killing them."
Chen Shi was still in the midst of comprehending the Dao and clearly couldn't make decisions. So Black Pot took decisive action, using its powerful domain to blind everyone, quietly slipped out of the city, and took Chen Shi and the Wooden Cart away from Lingzhou.
The Wooden Cart sped away, picking up speed.
Suddenly, Black Pot's ears pricked up as it looked back warily. Behind them, gusts of yin wind howled, and gloomy clouds billowed, rapidly approaching.
In an instant, the yin clouds blotted out the sky and moon.
The sky seemed about to collapse. A massive face descended from the yin clouds, and then Yin Lightning rumbled. Countless bolts of Yin Lightning coalesced into a giant hand covering dozens of acres, reaching down from the sky toward the Wooden Cart!
Black Pot leaped up from the cart, running upward into the sky. In a few steps, it revealed its mountain-like true form, treading demonic flames as it ran through the heavens. It opened its mouth and bit down. With a crack, the Yin Lightning hand was swallowed into its belly, refined in an instant, turned into nourishment for its flesh.
It pounced into the yin clouds. Inside was a Xu Family ghost god, just beginning to unleash a second spell.
Black Pot was incredibly fast and ferocious. That Xu Family ghost god immediately cast spells while retreating, trying to create distance, but was shaken by a mighty roar from Black Pot, leaving his Primordial Spirit dizzy and disoriented. Another claw strike sent him crashing down from the clouds.
Below, two more Xu Family ghost gods flanked the Wooden Cart from left and right, charging straight for Chen Shi.
Black Pot dove from the air, spewing blazing demonic flames from its mouth, turning into a long fire dragon. The fire dragon then split into nine, rushing toward the two ghost gods.
The two Xu Family ghost gods showed no fear. One activated the Yin-Yang Two Scenes Diagram, refining four of the dragons, while the other deployed the Myriad Transformations of Heaven and Earth, battling the five demonic dragons. Their strength was formidable, their divine power comparable to the Great Ascension Realm. In a few moves, they killed all the fire dragons.
Meanwhile, Black Pot caught up with the ghost god who had fallen from the sky, bit down, and slammed him hard, cracking his Golden Body. It then blasted another stream of demonic flames, refining him to ashes. It turned and charged toward the two Xu Family ghost gods.
As it ran, it shrank its body, standing on two legs, still hundreds of feet tall, no smaller than those two deities.
It reached out, grabbed the air, and the Heavenly Cycle Fire Domain erupted, forming a thunder-fire wheel that crackled and hissed.
Inside the racing Wooden Cart, the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler shot out with a whoosh, landing perfectly in the hand it had reached down.
The Heavenly Cycle Fire Domain ran upward from the bottom, circulating once around the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler. Various patterns on the iron staff lit up one by one, making it taller than its own body.
Two ghost gods and one black dog rolled and fought on the vast plains. All kinds of divine abilities, spells, and magic treasures clashed. Ahead, the Wooden Cart sped away, smoke and clouds rolling under its wheels.
"Boom!"
Black Pot leaped, swung the staff, and smashed one ghost god's head flat. It spun around the staff, struck the back of that ghost god's head, then side-stepped and thrust the staff upward, hitting the ghost god between the legs, scattering all his divine power.
The other ghost god saw the situation was dire and immediately fled through the air.
Black Pot pushed the staff.
Boom!
The swelling Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler grew enormous and thick, slamming into the fleeing ghost god's back, blasting streams of divine fire from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.
Black Pot pushed the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler as it ran, grinding that ghost god into the ground. It rushed a thousand miles in one go, crashing with a deafening boom into a great mountain, shattering that ghost god's Golden Body to pieces.
Black Pot withdrew the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler, revealed its Huo Dog true form, and sprinted with all its might. When it caught up with the Wooden Cart, it leaped into the air, landing on it in the form of an ordinary black dog.
It set down the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler, sat cross-legged, studied the Topographic Map, observed the surrounding terrain, and corrected the cart's direction.
Just then, Chen Shi, following behind the cart, suddenly woke from his Dao comprehension. The Yin-Yang Dao Field that had been continuously revolving around him calmed down.
Black Pot relaxed and put away the Topographic Map.
The Wooden Cart was already very close to the first ancient temple within Lingzhou's borders. It thought to itself.
Comments