On the Path to the Great Dao

Liu Qinghong was stunned. "Receive the register and accept the decree? How do you do that? How do you accept?"

At a loss, she was still pondering when Chen Shi had already finished reciting the ordaining words. He raised the Western King's Jade Seal, and a brilliant light burst forth in the air. Around the seal, the Mountains and Rivers Map of the fifty provinces of the Western Ox New Continent materialized, and the divine power of the map belonging to Changyi County in Dongsheng Province surged forth, transforming into streaks of divine radiance.

The Western King's Jade Seal, bearing supreme divine and royal authority, descended from the sky, its overwhelming power throwing her into panic!

"So enfeoffing gods is just stamping? It definitely can't be stamped on my face!"

She blinked rapidly, quickly lifting her skirt, intending to let her tail receive the seal. But just as she lifted her skirt, the Western King's Jade Seal landed on her pale white thigh.

The seal touched her skin and immediately withdrew. Liu Qinghong exclaimed in panic, "My tail! It's my tail!"

Then she sensed a surging divine power flowing into her. This power came from all the gods and spirits within Changyi County, Dongsheng Province. She could command these gods and spirits for her own use!

At the same time, the geography of Changyi County—every mountain, every river, every road, every village, every flower and tree—was clearly reflected in her mind, as if she had seen it with her own eyes, vivid and detailed.

This phenomenon made her marvel in wonder.

She tried to activate her divine authority, and the imprint of the Western King's Jade Seal appeared on her thigh. The divine power of every god and spirit in Changyi County could be borrowed, causing her cultivation and strength to rise step by step!

"It's just that having it stamped on my thigh is unsightly."

Liu Qinghong's eyes darted around as she pleaded with Chen Shi, "Brother Chen, can this ordaining be moved somewhere else? Stamp it on my tail. That way, when I activate the mark, I can watch it slowly appear and admire it. Otherwise, I'd have to lift my skirt to see it, which is rather indecent."

Chen Shi asked doubtfully, "Stamped on the thigh—that's quite elegant. Why is it not elegant?"

"Really elegant?"

"Elegant."

Liu Qinghong lifted her skirt and looked at her long, slender legs. They were straight, coming together like white jade chopsticks that were thick at the top and thin at the bottom, quite pleasing to the eye.

Still, she pleaded, "Change it to my tail."

Chen Shi raised the Western King's Jade Seal and said with a smile, "I'll try again. I haven't tried changing the position of the seal before."

Liu Qinghong extended her blue-green tail from under her skirt, looking up at the sky with anticipation.

Chen Shi raised the Western King's Jade Seal, which descended from the sky and accurately stamped onto her tail.

Liu Qinghong blinked in frustration. "It's no use."

Chen Shi consoled her, "If you want to look at it, you can sneak a peek when no one's around."

Liu Qinghong retracted her tail into her skirt and let the hem fall. "That'll have to do."

Chen Shi asked, "Qinghong, have there been any temples or other strange places that have suddenly appeared around here?"

Liu Qinghong thought for a moment, then said, "Nothing in my jurisdiction, but in the neighboring Yangu County, something strange has happened. Some people from Yangu County came here, saying a heavenly god was causing trouble there."

Chen Shi frowned slightly. A heavenly god causing trouble? Hadn't the Despair Slope immortals eliminated all the heavenly gods from the Upper Realm?

"That heavenly god fell from the sky, along with the sun, moon, and stars—many of them—covering Yangu," Liu Qinghong said. "That heavenly god was injured, cut in half at the waist, unable to move but still able to manifest. So he enslaved many people from Yangu to build him a temple and provide incense offerings. He even came to my area to kidnap people. I resisted to the death, and fearing further injury, he didn't succeed."

Chen Shi's heart stirred. "A heavenly god cut in half at the waist? I wonder which great clan he belongs to? Since he's nearby, I'll go check it out. If he's truly causing trouble, I'll just use my wife to deal with him."

Liu Qinghong had several temples, and she had one of her deity statues manifest to guide Chen Shi.

Although the two places were neighboring counties, the addition of many underworld mountains and rivers meant they were now far apart.

They walked for about half a day before entering Yangu County.

Chen Shi looked around and saw that Yangu County was filled with shattered mountains. Scattered across the sky were a few disordered moons and stars. A massive fragment of the Upper Realm was lodged in the ground. This area must have experienced a collision between the Upper Realm and the earth.

That heavenly god's temple was built within the Upper Realm fragment.

The fragment was quite large, with a broken moon and clusters of stars revolving around it, like an independent world.

"That heavenly god lives here," Liu Qinghong said.

Chen Shi looked toward the Upper Realm fragment. A massive figure sat within it, a huge incense burner placed before him. The burner was filled with incense, their flames like red suns. The energy of the incense offerings curled upward like blue clouds, drifting toward the heavenly god.

That heavenly god's aura was overwhelmingly powerful. In the blue clouds, extraordinary power constantly formed, intertwining and weaving together into bright talisman imprints that disappeared into his body one after another.

Even though he was only half a body, he was still at the peak of the Great Ascension Realm, and his divine power was continuously recovering.

Within the Upper Realm, people moved in an endless stream, lining up to offer incense—tens of thousands of them. Below, in the towns and cities, countless starving people held incense, kneeling and bowing to the heavenly god.

"These people worship the heavenly god without tending to production. What do they eat?" Chen Shi asked in confusion.

Liu Qinghong replied, "They also eat Blood Tai Sui. Every day, this heavenly god selects a few lucky people, descends his divine power into their bodies, and sends them into the mountains to dig up Blood Tai Sui's flesh, which is then distributed to the people."

The demonic flesh of the immortals that had fallen to the mortal world had turned into mountains of flesh and blood. These fleshes were filled with spiritual and demonic nature, and they bred many strange and evil creatures. Ordinary people who entered the mountains rarely succeeded in obtaining flesh; they often went mad or suddenly mutilated themselves to death.

This heavenly god borrowed others' bodies to enter the mountains and retrieve flesh, feeding the people. In Chen Shi's view, there was nothing wrong with this practice.

The two mixed into the crowd and followed the believers toward the Upper Realm. Chen Shi observed the talisman patterns continuously weaving in the air, and his heart stirred. "It's the Li Family's Minor Tribulation Salvation Formula. This heavenly god is an ancestor of the Li Family! Though he's in trouble, he's sheltering the people here—an act of righteousness."

He noticed there were some cultivators within the Upper Realm, not very high in cultivation, the strongest being at the Refining Void realm. They were likely Li Family officials from nearby who had come to rely on this Li Family ancestor.

Besides them, there were also some ghost gods, probably from the Li Family, numbering several hundred.

"Even with the Upper Realm's destruction and communication severed everywhere, the power of a great clan like the Li Family, rooted in the local area, is still unimaginably vast," Chen Shi mused.

Just then, the Li Family ancestor suddenly laughed. "How can I tolerate another snoring by my bedside? You've been lurking near my territory, repeatedly offending me. Today, I will settle this with you!"

Liu Qinghong exclaimed in surprise, "He's found us!"

Chen Shi looked at Black Pot. Black Pot frowned slightly, unsure how the Li Family ancestor had seen through them.

Black Pot was responsible for obscuring others, covering Chen Shi and company's infiltration. Logically, they shouldn't have been discovered by the Li Family ancestor, unless the gap in strength was too great. But Black Pot's current strength was also considerable; though still inferior to the Li Family ancestor, a surprise move should have made obscuring him easy.

Suddenly, the Upper Realm trembled violently. It rose from the earth, turning into a massive continent that stood upright behind the Li Family ancestor!

This Upper Realm fragment stretched hundreds of li in all directions, vast and immense. The people standing within it were as tiny as ants. Seeing this sight, they worshipped the Li Family ancestor even more devoutly, offering incense and kowtowing like pounding garlic.

"He's so powerful!" Liu Qinghong was utterly shocked. She said to Chen Shi, "Let's just apologize to him!"

Suddenly, the Li Family ancestor soared into the air, surrounded by many stars. As he flew, the stars and the Upper Realm fragment followed him.

Around Chen Shi and Liu Qinghong, everyone suddenly stiffened, standing in place, looking up at the sky. Their own life essences flew out from their bodies, heading toward the Li Family ancestor.

The entire power of the Upper Realm was being mobilized by the Li Family ancestor, including the people within it, who had become part of the Upper Realm.

"The one he's dealing with isn't us!" Chen Shi realized.

He had originally thought the Li Family ancestor had discovered them and was about to strike them down, but now it seemed the ancestor was raising the Upper Realm as his own Realm of Emptiness, probably to deal with another formidable enemy!

"Is there another deity nearby?" Chen Shi was stunned.

In his view, Liu Qinghong could already be considered a top expert, but she was still far behind the Li Family ancestor. If he were dealing with Liu Qinghong, the ancestor would never have needed to use this Upper Realm fragment.

This opponent must be extremely strong, so the Li Family ancestor needed tens of thousands of worshippers to continuously offer incense, even drawing on their life essences, just to keep himself at his peak state!

The Li Family ancestor carried the massive Upper Realm fragment and flew straight into a ruined mountain range. Landing there, he looked up and laughed, "You've been lurking here, repeatedly kidnapping my people. My injuries were severe before, so I didn't bother with you. I sent my Li Family juniors to meet you, but you detained them. You have no manners, so don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Chen Shi's heart stirred as he looked ahead. In this ruined mountain range, a streak of radiant light had appeared at some point.

Within that radiant light, another world seemed hidden—mountains and rivers could be seen. It seemed that after the Upper Realm shattered, the Li Family ancestor had come here to heal, afraid of the Despair Slope's searches, so he left the other strong entity hidden in the radiant light alone.

But now, so much time had passed that the Despair Slope had never come for him, emboldening him greatly. Moreover, he had refined the Upper Realm fragment as his own Realm of Emptiness, greatly increasing his strength, so he was coming to eliminate this neighbor.

The Li Family ancestor flew into the radiant light, his powerful aura shaking it violently.

The entire Upper Realm fragment followed him into the light.

Before Chen Shi's eyes, the scene suddenly brightened, then the harsh light gradually softened as his eyes adjusted to the radiance.

He saw a landscape of clear waters and green mountains—refreshingly beautiful. White clouds drifted among the green peaks, cranes roamed freely, and fish flicked their tails leisurely in the emerald streams.

Having suddenly entered this place from the hellish, perilous human world, it felt like stepping into a fairyland, refreshing the mind and soul. They couldn't help but take a few deep breaths of the crisp air.

"There's no demonic energy in the righteous energy of heaven and earth here!" Chen Shi was astonished. He carefully examined the righteous energy but still found no trace of demonic energy!

This discovery was no small matter and shook him deeply.

A long time ago, Chen Shi had sensed that a demonic energy was hidden within the righteous energy of heaven and earth. He had initially thought it came from the Celestial True God's moon eye, because moonlight would cause corpses to turn demonic.

Later, he discovered that the True God's moon eye was only one source of the demonic energy. Another major source came from beyond the heavens!

From the end of the Great Shang era to the present, every cultivator, and even ordinary people, had been infected by this demonic energy!

Chen Shi had previously relied on the righteous energy of the Divine Continent to cultivate, avoiding contamination.

He hadn't expected that this Realm of Emptiness discovered by the Li Family ancestor contained not a trace of demonic energy!

Suddenly, a Li Family cultivator flew out of the Upper Realm fragment and shouted, "This realm within the radiant light is actually a Realm of Emptiness—a place where a predecessor sage achieved Dao Unification!"

More Li Family cultivators flew out, looking around in amazement.

Then someone made a discovery and called out, "There's a boundary marker here!"

The Li Family ancestor flew over and saw a stone stele about one zhang tall. Beneath it was a giant baxia that had died of old age, leaving only its shell.

The stele was strange. As they approached, it grew taller and taller, reaching the sky, blocking their view and path. But when they stepped back, it returned to its original size of one zhang.

The stele was inscribed with text written in divine language, resembling bird-seal and insect script. Each character was shaped like a talisman.

Few among the Li Family members were well-versed in this script, and even those who recognized some couldn't read it all.

Chen Shi swept his eyes over it and immediately recognized the content on the stele.

"Jue Yangzi ascended to immortality here, leaving this stele as a memorial."

His mind shook violently. What era was Jue Yangzi from? How had he managed to ascend?

The Li Family ancestor was quite accomplished in talisman arts and also recognized the content on the stele. His expression shifted. "This is the place where Jue Yangzi ascended!"

He looked up and saw a streak of immortal radiance drifting down from the sky, landing on the highest peak, forming a cloud of auspicious omen.

There, streaks of radiance shone brilliantly.

"The aura of the celestial realm!"

The Li Family ancestor burst into laughter. "When Senior Jue Yangzi ascended, he broke through to the celestial realm, and a bit of immortal energy followed the path down here. No wonder there's no demonic energy here—the demonic energy has been dissolved by the immortal energy!"

He flew forward, but the stele before him grew larger and larger, blocking his path.

"A petty trick!"

The Li Family ancestor snorted, raising his aura to its peak. He pressed forward, actually shrinking the stele down!

The Li Family ancestor raised his hand, and all the Li Family cultivators involuntarily flew up, landing in the Upper Realm fragment behind his head. They flew together toward the auspicious cloud on the highest peak.

As they approached, the immortal energy contained in the cloud grew richer and richer. A single breath of it was enough to greatly increase one's cultivation!

"Someone really did ascend! They really ascended!" Chen Shi murmured.

Yet he felt some doubt. The text on the stele was clearly written in talisman divine script from the True King's Era, not from the Great Shang period. The True King's Era was already plagued by severe demonic energy, which was why the True King had ordered the abolition of old laws and the establishment of new ones.

How had Jue Yangzi of the True King's Era managed to ascend?

Finally, the Li Family ancestor reached the highest peak. On this auspicious cloud, immortal energy descended gently. Following the source of this energy, one could vaguely see another world there.

"This is where Jue Yangzi ascended!" The Li Family ancestor could barely contain his excitement.

He looked at the auspicious cloud and suddenly froze. Lying amid the clouds was a skeleton, its chest pierced by a sharp beam of light in the shape of a sword!

Everyone stared blankly at this sight.

The Li Family ancestor looked up at the sky, then back at the corpse lying in the clouds. His eyes were filled with confusion.

Had Jue Yangzi really ascended?

Whose corpse was this?

And where had the sword light stuck in the corpse's chest come from?

Someone followed the direction of the sword light and saw that it originated from the place where the immortal energy descended.

A thought formed in Chen Shi's mind.

"When Jue Yangzi ascended, he was pierced through by a sword light from the celestial realm and died here. But why?"

Just then, a Li Family ghost god flew out from the Upper Realm fragment, trying to pull out the sword light stuck in the skeleton, saying, "This is immortal bone. I can take it back to refine into a treasure."

The moment his hand touched the sword light, it scattered like dust, turning into thousands of specks of light that drifted away and vanished.

The skeleton on the ground moved a finger.

Chen Shi's eyes had been fixed on the skeleton. Seeing this, without a second thought, he grabbed Liu Qinghong and hurled the girl into the wooden cart, shouting, "Black Pot, retreat now!"