On the Path to the Great Dao

When Chen Shi died, he was only nine years old. At that time, he was merely at the Divine Embryo realm, at most the Golden Core realm. After his death, his soul couldn’t carry away any of his cultivation power. He entered the underworld alone, surviving was already extremely difficult, let alone cultivating.

Moreover, without a physical body, how could one cultivate?

Without a physical body, there was no way to form a Golden Core, a Nascent Soul, or a Primordial Spirit, no way to cultivate a Dao Field, no way to achieve Body Unification, no way to sever the Three Corpses.

As for cultivating to the Spirit Refining realm, that was even more impossible.

Chen Shi suddenly said, “Maybe back then I attached myself to a skeleton, or some other vessel, and cultivated through a false body. The underworld has many scattered pre-Qin cultivation techniques, relics from the Great Shang era. I might have obtained some technique similar to the Blood Lake Sutra, which is why my cultivation speed was so rapid.”

Scholar Zhu nodded gently. “That’s possible. But if you were just a skeleton, how did your mother find you?”

Chen Shi was stunned.

Yes, his mother, Wu Qingyu, had wandered aimlessly through the underworld, searching for him. Back then, Wu Qingyu was confused and lost in madness. If Chen Shi had merely been a skeleton, she would never have recognized him.

The reason she could recognize him must have been because Chen Shi had maintained his true appearance.

“So, is it possible for a ghost to leap directly from the Divine Embryo or Golden Core to the Spirit Refining realm?”

Thinking this, Chen Shi laughed out loud and shook his head, dismissing the idea.

“The underworld has all sorts of miraculous medicines that enhance the soul. Perhaps he accidentally ingested some mysterious spirit medicine, causing his soul’s cultivation to skyrocket, directly reaching the Spirit Refining realm…”

He stopped mid-sentence and shook his head again. What kind of miraculous medicine existed in the world?

“So, back then, I must have had a body. Either a skeleton body or a ghostly body. Only that way could I cultivate. At that time, I emerged from another body, appearing as a ghost, to meet with my mother.”

Chen Shi carefully recalled what he had seen in his mother’s Primordial Palace. A sea of demonic flames formed a blazing ocean, with Wu Qingyu holding him tightly, surrounded by countless immensely powerful demon gods.

These demon gods were likely the demons, Calamities, and Catastrophes who followed Chen Shi. They had gathered around him for various reasons, venerating him as their emperor, calling him the Divine Emperor. They shared the same ideal: to transform this disaster-ridden world into a perfect place for evil spirits, to eradicate the True Gods, and to completely corrupt the entire world!

“If I had come out of that false body to meet my mother back then, then among those demon gods, one must have been my external incarnation. Perhaps my mother would know which one was my external incarnation.”

As Chen Shi recalled that scene, the demon gods in the sea of fire were all mature forms, but some were stronger, some weaker. Among them, many of the Catastrophes were corrupted half-immortals or true immortals!

But the most eye-catching of all was undoubtedly the master of the Cyan Ghost Hand.

His body was the most massive, his aura the most powerful. That’s why Wu Qingyu had such a strong first impression of him.

His features were distinctive, his entire body cyan-colored, especially his pair of ghost hands, which were also indigo-blue—a typical trait of the ghost clan.

His race was hard to discern, but he was the most formidable presence among all the demon gods. Even the other demons, Calamities, and Catastrophes treated him with great respect.

Chen Shi had even once suspected whether the master of the Cyan Ghost Hand was the parent of the Blue Goat.

Beyond him, there were many other Catastrophes, also extremely powerful.

“Back then, I had cultivated to the Spirit Refining realm. I should have been the weakest among them all. Why did they honor me as their emperor?”

He was utterly puzzled. Even if he had reached the Mahayana stage, he would still have been the weakest among them. The others’ power far surpassed his, especially the master of the Ghost Hand, whose strength was boundless and unimaginable.

The fact that they honored Chen Shi as their emperor seemed somewhat strange.

Or perhaps, back then, Chen Shi truly had the charisma to win over these fearsome, evil beings?

Chen Shi suddenly blinked, then smiled. “I don’t know how I managed it back then, but I do know why my Three Corpses are so powerful. It’s because I cultivated once before, but that time, I didn’t sever the Three Corpses.”

Scholar Zhu, upon this reminder, suddenly understood. “In those eight years you were dead, you cultivated at least to the Spirit Refining realm. But back then, you had no physical body. Your external incarnations were either skeletons or corpses, so there was no need to sever the Three Corpses.”

Chen Shi nodded firmly and laughed. “I thought it was because I was too lustful. Now I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.”

Scholar Zhu asked, “Then why aren’t your Peng Zhi and Peng Ju that strong?”

Chen Shi frowned slightly.

“The you from back then died at only nine years old. It’s very possible he didn’t know what lust was,” Scholar Zhu said.

Chen Shi’s expression turned serious. “Teacher, don’t say any more. I understand. ‘A graceful lady is a gentleman’s pursuit.’ So I am a gentleman.”

Scholar Zhu grunted, for the first time wondering if he was teaching the right thing.

Ahead, two suns hung in the sky. Under their light, temples stood in clusters. Chen Shi raised his Primordial Spirit, looking down from above to observe. He saw that the incense offerings in these temples were flourishing. Nearby, many villages and towns had been built around them.

These villages and towns had a considerable population. The people lived happily. Although they weren’t well-fed or well-clothed, their lives were far better than those in other places.

In this chaotic era, most people were starving and cold, wandering in search of food. Many cultivators had become powerful bullies, burning, killing, and looting everywhere.

But this place was peaceful, truly a strange occurrence.

“Did I come here before and revive the deity of this place?”

Chen Shi raised the Western King’s Jade Seal and examined the Mountains and Rivers Map. He found that this area hadn’t been lit up, indicating he had never been here before.

“Could it be that this deity is also a spirit from China, who didn’t perish but has survived until now?”

Chen Shi looked around and found that there was still demonic energy in the heaven and earth around him. Although there were suns and moons in the sky, and stars on them, they were not the sun, moon, and stars of the ancestral land, the Divine Continent. They were more like the Celestial True God’s creations.

As for the shapes of the stars, they were also bizarre, more like imagined creations.

Chen Shi withdrew his Primordial Spirit. “Black Pot, stay alert.”

Black Pot had been sitting in the carriage, looking at the Topographic Map. Upon hearing this, he immediately put down the map, jumped down from the carriage, and followed behind Chen Shi, fully alert.

This area of villages and towns was very strange. If they encountered danger, Black Pot would be Chen Shi’s best support.

Chen Shi and Black Pot, one in front and one behind, walked toward one of the temples.

Outside the temple, an old man sat on a stone, playing an erhu. The sound was creaky and scratchy, but gradually, the notes became smoother.

The old man sang, “Flesh like lotus root, cooked fragrant, breast made into wontons, people fight to taste. Both arms first severed, hung in the butcher’s shop, slowly cut thigh meat to make soup. They don’t let you die, wanting fresh meat, slice by slice, they watch hungry people eat. Male flesh is rank and cannot be eaten, female skin is delicate with little sweat.”

Many people nearby were listening. The old man stopped his playing and said, “Out there, people are called two-legged sheep. Powerful bullies make trouble, catching people everywhere. Once caught, they hang the living person in the butcher’s shop and ask customers which part they want to buy. The cultivators’ knives are very fast; they cut the meat off the person, but they don’t die yet.”

After explaining for a while, the old man picked up the erhu again, playing with a creaky sound, and continued singing, “After three days, the meat is gone, only one soul remains, begging for her husband, where is the setting sun? Heaven made a woman a good ‘vegetable person,’ so her husband can grow old and die. Buried alive in intestines, fed a few people, lucky the crows and kites didn’t peck early.”

As he sang, he wept, choking, “Good folks, the outside world is already hell! How can it compare to us, under the protection of the Willow God, with food and clothing?”

Chen Shi was moved and couldn’t help but stop.

The situation the old man sang about, he had also encountered. There was indeed cannibalism, with all kinds of methods devised, too gruesome to behold.

When the old man finished singing, people around gave him some tips. The old man shook his head. “No need, really no need. I just want you all to cherish your current life and not go out to suffer. Outside, it’s truly not a life for humans.”

He rolled up his pant leg. Everyone gasped. They saw that the old man’s legs were nothing but bone, not a shred of muscle left, scraped clean.

“I was rescued by the Willow God like this. The butcher hung me in the shop, first stripped the meat from my legs, and when most of it was gone, this was what I looked like.”

The old man put down his pant leg, picked up the erhu, and continued playing, the sound dry and creaky.

Chen Shi withdrew his gaze and continued walking toward the temple ahead. Nearby, many worshippers, holding burning incense, formed a line, bowing with every step, very devoutly heading toward the temple.

Many others were coming out of the temple, faces filled with joy, laughing, “The Willow God granted my wish. When my wish comes true, I’ll come back to fulfill my vow.”

Chen Shi didn’t enter the temple directly. He also lined up behind the others and waited.

When his turn came, Chen Shi walked into the temple. Inside, a deity statue stood, about one zhang two or three in height. It was a sculpture of a young woman, looking only about fourteen or fifteen, with a pure and lovely face. Coiled around her body was a large green snake. The snake’s body was slender and lifelike.

Chen Shi approached the incense burner, took some incense, and placed it in the burner.

“Daoist friend, I dare not accept your incense.”

The incense in the burner suddenly tilted in all directions. A pleasant female voice sounded, soft and gentle. “As you walked from afar, I saw a red light, like a great sun hidden in the eastern sea, about to rise. I knew a great figure was coming. Your merit far exceeds mine. I dare not accept your incense.”

Chen Shi looked up and saw that the young woman’s deity statue had suddenly transformed from stone into living flesh, becoming a flesh-and-blood body. She bowed to him. “Liu Qinghong, greetings to you, Daoist friend.”

Chen Shi’s gaze fell on her. The green snake slithered, also awakening from stone.

“Chen Shi, greetings to you, Daoist friend.”

Chen Shi looked intently and said, “It’s rare for a demon to reach your level of cultivation.”

His gaze was sharp, seeing through the origins of this Willow God. Her original form was a massive green snake, having already cultivated to the Return to Emptiness realm.

The sun, moon, and stars Chen Shi and his companions had seen earlier were all projections of her Realm of Emptiness.

They had inadvertently entered this place, which meant they had entered her Realm of Emptiness.

—A cultivator’s Realm of Emptiness could be sealed, turning into a halo, or floating in the sky. It could also be opened, becoming boundless. Liu Qinghong had opened her Realm of Emptiness to shelter these people.

Liu Qinghong, barefoot, jumped down from the shrine and bowed to Chen Shi. “Daoist friend Chen, there’s something you don’t know. I was originally a small snake in the Purple Bamboo Forest of the Water Moon Holy Land. I would coil around a purple bamboo, pretending to be a branch, quietly waiting, looking up at the sky. When a bird landed, I would strike quickly, bite its body, and inject venom. Sometimes in a day, sometimes in two or three, I could always catch a few birds. A young novice monk from the Water Moon Holy Land saw me killing, so he sat in the bamboo forest and recited the Buddha’s Crown Supreme Victory Dharani Sutra for me. After hearing it for a long time, I awakened my spiritual wisdom.”

She walked out of the temple barefoot. The believers along the way, upon seeing her, were so excited they knelt on the ground, shouting that the Willow God had manifested.

Liu Qinghong helped them up. “That novice monk later became the World-Honored One of the Water Moon Holy Land, known as Bai Zang World-Honored One. Under his guidance, I continued to cultivate in the bamboo forest, feeding on wind and dew, no longer eating birds. I cultivated in a daze in the Water Moon Holy Land, and before I knew it, decades had passed. One day, Bai Zang World-Honored One came to the bamboo forest again and recited the Buddhist sutra for me. He was very old. After reciting a whole sutra, he told me he was going to die and had come to say goodbye.

“So I transformed into this form and asked him if he had any last wishes. He said, ‘May you have a compassionate heart.’ Later, the Water Moon Holy Land changed more than a dozen World-Honored Ones, and they all died too. I just silently cultivated like that, until three years ago. The heaven and earth underwent a cataclysm. I saw the mortal world become a hell, with people suffering, and remembered Bai Zang World-Honored One’s words. So I secretly slipped out of the Water Moon Holy Land and came here.”

She helped up a woman, wiped the dust from her face, and said, “I’ve been running this place for three years. My abilities are limited; I can only protect one area. I originally planned to be a Godmother, but later people built temples here and worshipped me.”

Chen Shi walked beside her. “With so many people, how do you sustain their food supply?”

“I hunt ghosts and monsters to provide meat.”

Liu Qinghong said, “Nearby, there’s also a Mountain of Flesh and Blood, left behind by a corrupted immortal, called the Tai Sui Mountain. If cultivators eat it, they go mad, but ordinary people can eat it without harm, and it actually strengthens their bodies. In the mountain, there’s a large locust tree. The locust tree blossoms, and you can pick the flowers for vegetables. Also, nearby there’s a river of lava, with fish that fire can’t burn. When they meet water, they cook.”

Chen Shi looked at Black Pot. Black Pot nodded slightly.

Chen Shi was astonished. Everything Liu Qinghong said was true, without a single false word!

Liu Qinghong said, “Sir, have you come to subdue demons and exorcise evil, to kill me? Please wait a moment. I’ll write down all the edible food nearby. After I die, please leave my Realm of Emptiness. The suns and moons can burn for a long time.”

Chen Shi asked, “Aren’t you going to resist me?”

Liu Qinghong shook her head. “I am a demon. When I saw you, I saw a red sun about to rise, pressing down on me so I could hardly breathe. I feel a strange fear of you. You have a terrifying power within you. If you want to kill me, I’m afraid it would take no effort at all.”

Chen Shi was slightly taken aback. Where did this power come from?

Could it be the Tianluo Blood-Transforming Divine Blade?

“It’s these few temples.”

Liu Qinghong pointed behind his head. “I can feel that you have the power of life and death over me, making me dare not resist.”

Chen Shi was greatly surprised. “Is the Godmother’s authority this great?”

He smiled slightly. “Daoist friend Liu, I’m not here to kill you. I’m here to enfeoff gods.”

He raised the Western King’s Jade Seal and laughed. “From today onward, you are the orthodox deity of Changyi County, Dongsheng Province! Liu Qinghong, receive your ordination and accept the decree!”