The horn-shaped Underworld Lamp was extrely powerful. Chen Shi's Nascent Soul absorbed the pure yang energy from its light. After a while, the light would dim. But as soon as he stopped absorbing the pure yang energy, the light would quickly brighten again.
"How did you injure yourself like this?" Granny Sha examined his Nascent Soul and couldn't help but frown.
Injuries to the soul, Nascent Soul, and Primordial Spirit were the hardest to heal. Even a master of the dical Arts would be at a loss when faced with such wounds.
That's why a spiritual dicine like the Soul-Returning Lotus, which grew in the underworld, was so valuable.
Chen Shi said, "From reading a book."
Granny Sha was surprised. Could reading a book really damage one's mind and injure the Nascent Soul?
Was it so kind of erotic picture book or a battle manual compiled by demonic cultivators, or perhaps a secret record of great bliss?
She had read such books before and suffered ntal damage, but her injuries were far less severe than Chen Shi's.
"Sister Sha, are you going to the Western Capital?"
Chen Shi said, "Chen Tang sent soone to fetch . We could go together."
Granny Sha laughed, "? Go to the Western Capital? Haha, hahaha! I'm not going to the Western Capital! You go ahead."
She turned to leave, saying, "Your grandfather wronged your father, and your father wronged you. I won't get involved in your family's affairs."
Chen Shi summoned Xuan Shan and Madam Zhuang, saying, "I've troubled you two seniors these past days. Would you two like to accompany to the Western Capital?"
The black-clad Xuan Shan shook his head, "If I were to leave, I fear Qianyang Mountain would fall into panic."
Madam Zhuang smiled, "This old woman's foundation is here. How could I leave without permission?"
Chen Shi felt quite regretful. During his cultivation these past days, he had experienced what it ant to be swift and fierce. With three imnsely powerful spirits—Madam Zhuang, Xuan Shan, and Stone Ji Your Ladyship—acting as Divine Embryos, his cultivation speed was almost faster than during his Golden Core stage!
Without Madam Zhuang and Xuan Shan, it would still be fast, but after tasting sothing faster, a sense of loss was inevitable.
"Take good care of yourself, Little Ten." Madam Zhuang waved goodbye.
Xuan Shan said, "Take back what you have lost."
Chen Shi watched them leave with a smile in his eyes, a glimr of light flashing within.
He turned and leaned against the Wooden Cart, shrinking his body slightly, and said to Sun Yisheng, "Let's go, Lord Sun."
Seeing him sitting in the Wooden Cart while the horse-drawn carriage remained empty, Sun Yisheng thought, "This Young Master has peculiar tastes, preferring to ride in a simple wooden cart."
They had breakfast at Qiaowan Town and set off imdiately.
When they neared Rapeseed Village, Hu Feifei was already waiting at the village entrance with Nannan. Seeing them approach, she waved excitedly.
Sun Yisheng glanced at Hu Feifei and said, "In recent years, the court's discipline has been lax, but there are still strict regulations: demon cultivators are not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations. For a fox spirit in the countryside to pass the provincial exams and beco a provincial graduate, the court turns a blind eye. But to go to the Western Capital for the palace exams? That's rather audacious."
Hu Feifei was surprised and looked at him, "You can see my true form?"
Chen Shi was also greatly surprised. Hu Feifei had transford into human form so perfectly that even he couldn't see through the girl's true nature. How did Sun Yisheng see it?
Sun Yisheng said, "I was honored by Lord Chen Tang's trust. He taught the Three-Eye Seal of Vigorous Knowledge, a Buddhist seal technique that can see through transformation arts. Miss Hu, even if you reach the Western Capital, you cannot take the exams. After your Fox Clan chooses a husband, don't you all refrain from taking the exams and wait at ho for your husband's return? You can wait at ho."
Hu Feifei exclaid in surprise, "You even know the rules of my Fox Clan!"
Sun Yisheng said, "Lord Chen Tang ntioned it. This humble official has a good mory and rembered it."
Hu Feifei laughed, "I haven't found a suitable husband, so I can't beco the matriarch of the Hu family. I might as well go to the Western Capital myself, take the top scholar position, and go back to sha those vixens."
Sun Yisheng frowned slightly, but since Chen Shi didn't speak up, he couldn't very well send Hu Feifei back.
Chen Shi had Hu Feifei and Nannan ride in the carriage while he himself rode in the Wooden Cart.
Sun Yisheng rode his horse to the side of the Wooden Cart and whispered, "Young Master Chen, rember to keep your distance from this fox girl."
Chen Shi asked, puzzled, "Why do you say that, Lord Sun?"
"Fox Clan won have a poor reputation."
Sun Yisheng said, "Human lives are short; fox lives are long. After cultivating, Fox Clan practitioners often live for a thousand years. After marrying a human scholar, the human man often ages and loses his looks in just twenty or thirty years. Then the fox woman abandons him after initially toying with his affections. So even abandon their husbands imdiately after becoming pregnant, taking the child back to the Fox Clan."
He paused, then said, "This humble official has seen a few who married fox won. They were originally provincial graduates or even palace graduates with bright futures. But after being abandoned by the fox won, within a few days they beca haggard, lost their appetite, and contracted lovesickness. Their official careers were also ruined."
Chen Shi said, "My grandfather was a close friend of the Fox Clan's Clan Head, so I'm taking her to the capital."
Sun Yisheng breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "Then this humble official is at ease."
The carriages and horses Sun Yisheng brought to fetch Chen Shi were official governnt models. The wheel hubs bore Horse Gallop Talismans and Divine Travel Talismans. Cloud patterns were painted beneath the carriage, and the horses were exotic breeds with dragon blood, with wind-cloud talismans and Six Ding and Six Jia Deities inscribed on their horseshoes.
When the carriage galloped, it was extrely fast, as if riding on clouds. Covering three thousand li in a day was no problem.
Sun Yisheng originally thought Chen Shi's Wooden Cart might not be able to keep up. But upon seeing the Wooden Cart's speed surpass that of the official governnt carriages, he felt reassured.
They traveled along the official post road, passing through the Henggong Mountain range. At noon, they rested at a post station in Hei Cheng County. The station attendants hurriedly took the horses to feed them fodder, trim their hooves, and cool them down.
Other attendants, likely low-level talisman masters, repainted the talismans on the carriage to prevent them from failing during the long journey.
Sun Yisheng was about to have the attendants repaint the talismans on Chen Shi's Wooden Cart when he saw Chen Shi take out over ten pounds of exotic beast at from the cart. The Wooden Cart's body cracked open, opening a large mouth that swallowed the beast at in one gulp, chewing loudly.
"Southern School Talismans?"
Sun Yisheng was greatly surprised. He stepped closer to examine the Wooden Cart carefully.
"You know about Southern School Talismans too?" Chen Shi asked.
Sun Yisheng said, "Lord Chen Tang told about Southern and Northern School Talismans. Young Master Chen, have you fused the talismans of both schools?"
He examined the talisman imprints on the Wooden Cart, utterly astonished.
Chen Shi smiled, "They're all our family's things. Why separate them into north and south?"
Hearing this, Sun Yisheng laughed, "Young Master Chen, you may not know. Outside, Southern School talisman masters and Northern School talisman masters have long been fighting to the death, creating mountains of corpses and seas of blood. The Northern School looks down on the Southern School, considering them heretics and demons. The Southern School also scorns the Northern School, viewing them as old fossils who don't know how to adapt. Whenever they et, they fight with great relish."
They continued their journey. By evening, they reached a county town on the southern shore of the Great South Lake, only a hundred li from Xuan Yan County.
As it was already dark, they rested at the post station.
During the night, Chen Shi slled the scent of burning talismans and then heard Sun Yisheng's voice along with another person's: "...My Lord, this humble official and the Young Master are already on our way to the Western Capital."
"The journey to the Western Capital is not peaceful. The case he was involved in has co to light. The Thirteen Great Clans are seething with undercurrents; many want to make a move against him."
The voice on the other end of the Thousand-li Communication Talisman vaguely seed to be Chen Tang's. "I'm worried soone might take advantage on the road to harm you."
"This humble official will certainly do everything in my power to protect the Young Master's safety!"
"Protect him if you can. If the opponents are too strong and you can't protect him, abandon him and return to the Western Capital. I won't bla you. You are my most trusted person. I would rather lose him than have you suffer loss."
...
Hearing this, Chen Shi felt a pang of discomfort in his heart. He went to the courtyard, took out the Talisman God Tianji from the Wooden Cart, and carefully studied how to restore it.
Since the Talisman God Tianji had spoken, it had now fallen into a comatose state, not breathing, but the flesh around its wounds was still wriggling.
Chen Shi took advantage of the moonlight to examine the Talisman God Tianji's structure.
The "Precious Mirror of Talisman Creation" stated that the Talisman God Tianji was an eight-ard divine demon, with a majestic body, proficient in all kinds of weapons, excelling in both long-range and close combat. Moreover, it could unleash a Ghost and God Domain spanning dozens of li!
Its power was evident!
Yet the Talisman God Tianji before him had its arms broken and maid, and it was not majestic at all, let alone capable of using any spells or weapons.
As for the Ghost and God Domain, there was no trace of it.
"Huh?"
Chen Shi suddenly noticed that the moonlight drifting in the air was actually gathering, transforming into points of light that flowed into the Talisman God Tianji's body. These moonlight essences landed on its surface and quickly disappeared, as if absorbed by the Talisman God Tianji!
Chen Shi observed that after absorbing the moonlight, the wriggling speed of the flesh around the Talisman God Tianji's wounds also increased significantly!
Just then, the Talisman God Tianji suddenly opened its eyes. Instantly, an incredibly violent aura erupted from its maid body. The stone slabs on the ground around Chen Shi cracked and shattered with popping sounds, turning into dust in an instant!
Black Pot was sleeping under the cart. When this pressure assailed him, it suppressed him, giving him no ti to escape to the underworld. At that mont, the Huagai inserted in the cart, under pressure, automatically opened. The Grand Cosmic Sacrificial Rite descended, enveloping the Wooden Cart along with Black Pot, protecting them.
"Little Five!"
The Talisman God Tianji stared at Chen Shi, its eyes wide with rage. "Fight to the death!"
Suppressed by its aura, Chen Shi couldn't move. He saw the sky suddenly darken. The moonlight from the sky for dozens of li around converged into a line, shooting into the Talisman God Tianji's maid body.
The Talisman God Tianji's true energy turned violent. Its eyes grew brighter and brighter. Just as it seed about to shoot divine light from its eyes to blast Chen Shi, a figure suddenly blocked in front of Chen Shi. Its Primordial Spirit erged, its Dao Field manifested, enveloping the entire post station, forcefully resisting the divine light from the Talisman God Tianji's eyes!
"Hummm—"
The air vibrated violently. Extrely bright light erupted. The next mont, Chen Shi felt the surrounding air rapidly heat up, and space itself violently trembled!
His limbs and bones, his internal organs, his soul and Nascent Soul—it felt as if everything was trembling!
It ca quickly and left quickly. The next mont, the trembling sensation disappeared. However, the light just now had been too bright, and Chen Shi's vision couldn't recover imdiately.
Gradually, he could see his surroundings. The one blocking in front of him was none other than Sun Yisheng. His Primordial Spirit was over ten zhang tall, and his Dao Field was thick and steady. However, the two beams of light from the Talisman God Tianji's eyes had just cut into his Dao Field, nearly slicing it open.
His hands were pitch black, trembling uncontrollably. The hands of his Primordial Spirit were almost lted away, the bones of his fingers exposed, shaking violently.
Sun Yisheng's body swayed unsteadily, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Clearly, his injuries were severe.
Chen Shi looked back and saw the post station's main gate blasted through. The two beams of light had caused trendous destruction, piercing through the post station grounds for dozens of li. All trees and mounds along the path had been vaporized!
Fortunately, the post station was outside the city, and the direction the Talisman God Tianji's gaze was aid wasn't toward the county town. Otherwise, this single strike from the Talisman God Tianji would likely have caused countless casualties!
Chen Shi felt a chill in his heart. Just then, he saw the Talisman God Tianji shout, "You all, run! Little Five, I'll fight you with my life!"
Above its head, the moonlight dimd once again.
Sun Yisheng was horrified, "My life ends here!"
He could withstand the Talisman God Tianji's first strike, but he absolutely couldn't withstand the second!
Without hesitation, Chen Shi reached out and grabbed. The Huagai flew over, whooshing as it expanded to about an acre in size, blocking the sky and covering the Talisman God Tianji beneath the umbrella.
Without the moonlight shining upon it, the terrifying light in the Talisman God Tianji's eyes gradually dimd. It shouted again, "Little Five, fight to the death!"
Chen Shi mustered his courage and said, "I'm not Little Five..."
The red light in the Talisman God Tianji's eyes dissipated, replaced by clarity. It said, "You are Chen Tang? Chen Tang, your father wants you to co ho."
Chen Shi observed it carefully. At the slightest sign of it losing control, he would imdiately activate the Dark Spring Swimming Dragon Sword within the umbrella to send it to the underworld.
"I'm not Chen Tang. I'm Chen Shi."
The Talisman God Tianji examined Chen Shi and said, "You're not Chen Tang. You're younger than him. You're Little Ten from the coffin. You're alive?"
Chen Shi nodded repeatedly.
The Talisman God Tianji seed to regain clarity. It used the broken bones of its arms to prop up its body and looked down, "My butt? Where are my legs?"
Its eyes turned red as it looked up at Chen Shi, "Little Five, so it was you! Give back my butt! You all, run! I'll hold off Little Five!"
Chen Shi quickly shouted loudly, "I'm not Little Five! I'm Chen Shi! Little Ten from the coffin!"
The red light in the Talisman God Tianji's eyes faded. It said, puzzled, "You're Little Ten from the coffin... No, you're Chen Tang. Chen Tang, your father wants you to co ho."
Chen Shi blinked. It seed this Talisman God Tianji's head had been damaged.
"The Talisman God Tianji absorbs moonlight essence to accelerate recovery. Could it be that the moonlight affects its consciousness... Right! The Creation Treasure Guide also says controlling the Talisman God Tianji is extrely difficult. The slightest carelessness can result in being controlled by the Talisman God Tianji, becoming its puppet! Could it be that the Talisman God Tianji has been corrupted by moonlight and is turning on its master?"
Thinking of this, the small temple behind Chen Shi's head manifested. He shone it toward the Talisman God Tianji, and the Talisman God Tianji disappeared, reappearing inside the small temple.
"If it could absorb the moonlight of the Divine Continent, would it not beco corrupted or act madly?"
Right now, it was dayti inside the small temple, with sunlight streaming down.
Worried it might run amok in the temple, Chen Shi quickly sent his consciousness inside. He saw the Talisman God Tianji using several broken arms to prop up its body, looking around.
"Big-headed woman."
The Talisman God Tianji said to Stone Ji Your Ladyship in the miniature shrine. "So it's you. I rember now. My master and I suppressed Little Five in front of you. We stole your power to seal Little Five. When did you get out? Have you seen my butt?"
Seeing the Talisman God Tianji, Stone Ji Your Ladyship felt rage surge from her heart. She raised her hand, about to suppress it.
Chen Shi quickly stopped her, "Your Ladyship, please calm your anger. It has already been punished."
Stone Ji Your Ladyship said angrily, "It was these strange things and an old man who stole my power! Otherwise, this humble one wouldn't have taken so long to recover her strength!"
"That old man was my grandfather," Chen Shi said.
Stone Ji Your Ladyship's anger instantly vanished. She smiled, "A tiger's grandson has no weak grandfather. The grandfather of the Envoy is naturally also remarkable."
Chen Shi said, "I'll leave Tianji here to recuperate. Keep an eye on it; don't let it run out. It's probably gone mad. You must coexist peacefully."
Stone Ji Your Ladyship glanced at the Talisman God Tianji. Although she very much wanted to kill it, she held back.
After settling the Talisman God Tianji, Chen Shi imdiately withdrew his consciousness and went to support Sun Yisheng.
Sun Yisheng's hands were still trembling. He said, "There are Flesh-Growing Pills in the pouch hanging from my waist. Please, Young Master Chen, help apply them."
Chen Shi quickly searched, found the Flesh-Growing Pills, mixed them with water and honey, and applied the paste to Sun Yisheng's hands.
As for the injuries to his Primordial Spirit, the Flesh-Growing Pills were helpless.
Sun Yisheng's Primordial Spirit transmitted excruciating pain, but he didn't utter a sound, only sweating profusely from the pain.
Chen Shi had never encountered such an injury and didn't know how to treat it. He was at a loss.
Enduring the pain, Sun Yisheng said gloomily, "Injuries to the Primordial Spirit often involve damage to the soul. Good dicine is hard to find..."
Chen Shi's eyes lit up, "Then, wouldn't the horn-shaped Underworld Lamp work for treatnt? Perfect, both of us can warm ourselves by the lamp fla! By the way, Lord Sun, I saw your Primordial Spirit's Dao Field is already ford. What exactly is your cultivation realm?"
Sun Yisheng said, "Peak of the Refining Void realm."
Chen Shi was startled. In the great clans, soone at the Refining Void realm could already be sent out to serve as a provincial Governor!
Sun Yisheng clearly wasn't from a great clan. How did he achieve such a high realm?
Sun Yisheng said, "This humble official was a classmate of Lord Chen Tang. We are both from Xinxiang, attended school and took the imperial exams together. Thanks to his promotion and cultivation, teaching many cultivation techniques and secret arts, I achieved what I have today."
Chen Shi was silent for a mont, then asked, "What is Chen Tang's cultivation realm? What does he do in the Western Capital?"
Sun Yisheng said, "He currently serves as the Right Vice Minister in the Ministry of Revenue, responsible for the Guanghui and Guangji Treasuries. As for his cultivation realm, back when we went to the capital together for the exams, our realms were quite similar. Later, I no longer knew his depths."
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