After Chen Shi left, Zhou Qianying, Wang Ping, and the others stepped forward. The iron tower-like warrior searched for spirit dicine and fed it to Ma Zongzhou, then fetched a holy dicine for regenerating flesh. He removed Ma Zongzhou's clothes and sared the holy dicine all over his body.
Several girls hurriedly turned their backs, not daring to look.
Ma Zongzhou had three ribs broken by Chen Shi, received dozens of kicks to his lower body and abdon, and was struck an unknown number of tis with a stick. His entire body was covered in dark purple bruises. If Chen Shi had not held back his killing intent and restrained his strength, Ma Zongzhou would likely have breathed his last the mont he took Chen Shi's first punch.
Seeing this scene, the others were both shocked and terrified. They exchanged glances, not daring to speak.
They felt uneasy and apprehensive. After all, just monts ago they had been chatting and laughing rrily with Chen Shi, treating him like a wounded little brother, taking extra care of him. They had even thought of using their connection with Chen Shi to draw their families closer to Chen Tang.
Now, Chen Shi had brutally assaulted Ma Zongzhou, the young master of the Ma Family, nearly beating him to death. They couldn't help but worry whether the young master Ma would bla them when he woke up.
At that mont, dust rose in the distance behind them. Another group of people and horses ca along the post road with quite a commotion. It was precisely the entourage of the Ma Family of izhou.
Zhou Qianying and the others watched warily from where they stood, feeling both alard and suspicious.
The Ma Family was, after all, an ancient and vast great clan with many descendants. Seven of their younger generation were participating in the Western Capital tropolitan examination this ti, and Ma Zongzhou was one of them. He had always preferred to travel alone, so he had separated from the main group to go ahead. No one expected he would encounter Chen Shi and receive such a severe beating.
The leader of this group was Ma Zongming, two years older than Ma Zongzhou and also from the Sect Leader's lineage. He frowned as he looked at the unconscious Ma Zongzhou.
The Ma Family retainers surrounding them were furious. Two to three hundred of them seethed with murderous intent. Various miniature shrines were summoned together, Divine Embryos, Golden Cores, Nascent Souls, and Primordial Spirits all emanating astonishing power. They were about to pursue Chen Shi.
"All of you, stop!"
Ma Zongming halted them and said in a deep voice, "We are heading to the capital for the examinations, not to kill people. Your task is to escort the seven of us to the capital. Other matters have nothing to do with you."
As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd grew agitated.
An elder of the Ma Family said, "Zongming, Zongzhou is also a Ma Family descendant going to the capital for the exams. To be beaten like this... Chen Shi has gone too far in bullying our Ma Family! Our Ma Family follows the True King, suppressing demon gods everywhere. We are not soone anyone can insult! If we don't punish Chen Shi today, tomorrow there will be a Zhao Shi or a Qian Shi coming to bully us!"
"That's right!"
A young woman of the Ma Family stepped forward, filled with grief and indignation. "Brother Zongming, Chen Shi has committed countless evil deeds. Our Ma Family's Ninth Uncle in Xinxiang was insulted by him, forced to bow and scrape before him. Our paternal uncle Ma Weigong in Gongzhou was killed by him! And in Qingzhou, he colluded with that Li Family scoundrel Li Tianqing to attack our dicine Envoys! Now he has insulted and beaten Brother Zongzhou like this. Can we still endure this? Should we still endure this?"
As she spoke, tears rolled down her cheeks, feeling utterly wronged.
Ma Zongming shook his head. "We are going to the capital for the exams. Don't complicate matters. Chen Shi has indeed committed many evils, but whether to deal with him is for the family's Village Elders to decide."
He looked around at everyone. "To be frank with you, several of our Ma Family's Great Ancestors have already left seclusion because of the Qingzhou dicine fields matter and have gone to the Western Capital."
The grief and indignation on everyone's faces vanished, replaced by looks of astonishnt.
The Qingzhou dicine fields were a matter of imnse importance.
Chen Shi's actions in Qingzhou, which on the surface seed to rely eradicate the Wan Family, had actually forced many Great Ancestors of the Thirteen Great Clans out of seclusion!
The Ma Family's Great Ancestors leaving seclusion for the Western Capital might seem unrelated to the dicine fields on the surface, but in reality, it was to deal with the forces behind Chen Shi.
The existence behind the corpse cloud in the Western Capital!
"Whether Chen Shi can be touched will soon beco clear."
Ma Zongming said with a calm deanor, "We, the younger generation, should not act on our own initiative, lest we ruin the Great Ancestors' plans. Next ti you see Chen Shi, you must treat him with courtesy. Not a hint of arrogance is allowed. Do you understand?"
Everyone suppressed their anger, bowing their heads and saying, "Yes."
Seeing that the entire Ma Family actually held their ground and did not pursue Chen Shi, Zhou Qianying and the others exchanged glances, their hearts filled with awe.
"What kind of person is behind Chen Shi? To make even the Ma Family swallow their anger... Could it be that the Chen Family is even more powerful than the Thirteen Great Clans?"
Chen Shi's Wooden Cart advanced unhurriedly deeper into the heart of the Western Ox New Continent. The surroundings gradually grew desolate. The post road was in disrepair, breaking off from ti to ti. In so places, there was simply no post road, only country paths.
Sotis they traveled dozens of miles without seeing a single village.
There were many white bones by the roadside, unclear whether human or beast. When the moon ca out, they crawled slowly on the ground.
But because it was dayti, the moonlight was relatively weak. They weren't powerful enough and many were crushed by the cart.
In places farther from the road, there were so tall, thin people dressed in black clothes. They were much taller than the trees, skinny, leaning out from the woods, motionless, watching the Wooden Cart pass by.
They turned their heads, watching until the Wooden Cart disappeared into the distance.
Sun Yisheng was alard and whispered, "That's a type of Spirit. It's dayti now, so they can't move, but at night they run exceptionally fast! We need to move faster and find a safe place before dark."
Not long after, a herd of giant beasts ambled past in front of them. These giant beasts were like moving hills, with four legs and two arms. Their arms reached down to the ground, supporting them as they walked.
Their necks were very long, reaching into the clouds. So plants floated in the mist among the mountains, and these giant beasts fed on these plants.
However, a type of large bird built nests among these plants. To protect their chicks, the birds would take flight, swooping down to attack the giant beasts' heads, pecking until their heads bled.
anwhile, many arrows shot up into the air from the backs of the giant beasts, startling and scattering the birds.
Only then did everyone notice that there was actually a village on the back of each giant beast.
The people in those villages wore very little clothing, their faces painted in colorful patterns. They held bows and arrows, watching them warily from afar.
"They are people who don't pay taxes, living on the backs of 'pi' beasts. They've almost turned into savages," Sun Yisheng said.
Hu Feifei brought Nannan out of the small courtyard, looking up at this rare sight.
Nannan asked in confusion, "What do they eat?"
Chen Shi pointed to the back of a pi beast, where there was a patch of farmland. "They grow crops. They eat the sa things we do."
Sun Yisheng shook his head. "Not the sa. Their main crop is a plant brought from the Divine Continent, called sorghum. There's no soil on the pi's back. The sorghum is planted in the sweat pores of the pi. When planting, they pluck out the pi's sweat hairs and sprinkle seeds into the pores. After the sorghum sprouts and grows, its roots dig deep into the pores. The oil and gri secreted by the pi beco fertilizer for the sorghum, making it grow very robustly."
Chen Shi and Hu Feifei clicked their tongues in amazent.
Planting sorghum on the back of a pi, migrating as the pi moved, truly broadened their horizons.
"They also raise a peculiar type of pig called a 'flea-pig'. It's a six-legged parasite that lives on the pi's body. Flea-pigs are pure black, hard to see at night. They burrow tunnels in the pi's skin, burrow into the pi's body, and survive by drinking its blood."
Sun Yisheng continued, "Flea-pigs can grow to three or four hundred pounds. They run extrely fast and have astonishing jumping ability. They can leap dozens of *zhang* from the back of one pi to another. After dosticating the flea-pigs, these people use the holes dug by the pigs as wells. Sotis they even ride flea-pigs to fight with tribes on the backs of other pi."
The convoy drove beneath these pi beasts. Chen Shi, Hu Feifei, and Nannan looked up.
Above their heads, a massive pi lifted its pillar-like leg and stepped over them from above, stirring up a rumbling wind.
Not long after, they witnessed the tribal warfare Sun Yisheng had ntioned.
Two adult pi encountered each other, likely fighting over mating rights.
The human tribes on the pi's backs also participated in this battle. People from both tribes painted their faces in colorful patterns, riding flea-pigs. They used ropes to tie the tusks on either side of the flea-pig's mouthparts, then charged and galloped across the pi's back. Suddenly, they would leap into the air, actually creating sonic booms as they jumped onto the opposing pi's back! Brandishing spears and sharp blades, they charged to kill people from the opposing tribe!
The sky was filled with flea-pigs jumping back and forth. From ti to ti, soone would lose their footing and fall from high altitude, landing with a splat, smashed to pieces.
The Wooden Cart passed beneath the two fighting pi, nearly being crushed to death several tis. During the most dangerous mont, as the pi's imnsely thick leg was about to crush the cart, Sun Yisheng activated his Primordial Spirit to hold up the descending leg, allowing the cart to escape.
The pi was simply too heavy and large. When its leg pressed down, Sun Yisheng felt as if a thousand-*zhang* high mountain was pressing down on him. Despite being an expert in the Refining Void realm, the pressure worsened his Primordial Spirit injuries.
His Primordial Spirit injuries grew heavier. Sitting in the Wooden Cart, he still felt cold even while holding the horn-shaped Underworld Lamp. He added several layers of clothing, wrapping himself up tightly, while his Primordial Spirit ward itself by the lamp fla.
Seeing this, Hu Feifei sent him into the small courtyard to sunbathe with the dog.
Sun Yisheng wanted to refuse lying on the recliner next to Black Pot, but his injuries were too severe. Once he lay down, he didn't want to move.
The dog pushed its spectacles up onto its ears, took out a scroll of a book from its mouth, licked its paw, and began reading.
Sun Yisheng thought to himself, "There's sothing a bit off about this dog."
When Black Pot glanced at him, he seed much more normal.
Black Pot flipped through the book. After a while, it suddenly picked up the horn-shaped Underworld Lamp and gave it a gentle shake. Sun Yisheng then saw the lamp, the dog, and his own Primordial Spirit all sink into the underworld!
He was horrified and struggled, calling for help. However, Chen Shi and Hu Feifei had at that mont run onto the back of a pi, using spare clothes to trade with the people living there for so "useless soft yellow stones." No matter how Sun Yisheng called for help, the two of them didn't hear him.
However, the Wooden Cart heard. It grew nurous arms and grabbed the courtyard.
Sun Yisheng saw the Wooden Cart's fra sprout huge eyeballs all around. They crowded above the small courtyard, blocking the sky, rolled once with a gurgle, and stared at him.
Sun Yisheng thought, "If I'm going to die, then so be it. Lord Chen Tang, I have done my best."
In the underworld, Black Pot was like a demon god colossus. It raised the horn-shaped Underworld Lamp. The lamp fla blazed fiercely, like a ghostly moon beneath the horns.
Sun Yisheng's Primordial Spirit was within this ghostly moon. He felt that this lamp absorbed the ultimate Yin energy of the underworld, burning it within the Lamp Oil. Yet, from the extre Yin, Yang was born, generating ultimate Yang energy that continuously refined into his Primordial Spirit, repairing it.
He was both shocked and delighted, feeling the recovery speed of his Primordial Spirit greatly increased!
"So the dog wasn't trying to harm , but to help heal my injuries."
Just then, many ghost gods surged from all around. The sounds of battle shook the heavens and earth as they flooded toward them like a tidal wave.
Sun Yisheng was terrified. His Primordial Spirit was ten *zhang* tall, already a powerful existence among Refining Void realm cultivators. But before these underworld ghost gods, who were often thousands of *zhang* tall, he was simply insignificant.
"I never thought I would die in the underworld..."
As soon as this thought crossed his mind, he saw that black giant dog, its paws treading demonic fire, pounce into the fray. It smashed the head of a thousand-*zhang* tall ghost god with one swipe, bit off the arm of another ghost god, let out a furious roar that caused another ghost god's head to explode with a *bang*, and spat out demonic fire from its mouth, incinerating a three-headed ghost god that charged at it into ashes!
"These ghost gods aren't here to kill !"
Sun Yisheng realized. "These ghost gods are here to kill this dog!"
His heart pounded wildly. "What on earth is this dog's background? Its origins are probably far greater than mine!"
More and more ghost gods and demonic monsters appeared around them. Black Pot couldn't hold out either, fighting until utterly exhausted. So, it clamped the horn-shaped Underworld Lamp in its mouth, leaped, jumped out of the underworld, and returned to the small courtyard.
It put down the horn-shaped Underworld Lamp, lay on the recliner, put on its spectacles, and rested in the sun.
Sun Yisheng felt his Primordial Spirit injuries had improved considerably, and his spirits had recovered sowhat. He felt secretly ashad. "Earlier, I didn't even want to sit next to it. Yet it didn't disdain for being unworthy of sitting with it..."
Chen Shi and Hu Feifei descended from the back of the six-legged giant pi, bringing several pounds of "useless soft yellow stones."
They also bought two six-legged flea-pigs. Hu Feifei and Nannan climbed excitedly onto the pigs' backs, planning to take them out for a ride.
"Whoosh!"
The two flea-pigs exerted force, leaped into the air, and vanished without a trace.
A mont later, the excited screams of Hu Feifei and Nannan could be heard in the distance.
The flea-pigs were simply too fast. The two of them felt their souls were about to be jolted out of their bodies.
"Lord Sun, we have money again!"
Chen Shi invited Sun Yisheng out and gave him a few pieces of broken gold, smiling. "To the locals, this gold is useless stone, not good for making spears. They need clothes more, so Feifei and I traded for so. Take this for now. If it's not enough, I have more here."
Sun Yisheng was flustered and repeatedly said, "Young master, how can I accept your money?"
He felt utterly ashad. Not only had he been of little help on this journey, but he had also been repeatedly injured, requiring care from Chen Shi and the dog. All three als along the way were prepared by Hu Feifei, that fox spirit.
He could only freeload.
And now, he was even being given spending money by a junior.
For the first ti, he felt so utterly incompetent.
Western Capital.
Wenchang Alley.
A light drizzle fell from the sky. Li Yiran, the Great Ancestor Lord of the Li Family, raised his head in the rain, looking at a pale gray cloud in the sky.
Other clouds moved with the wind, but this particular pale cloud floated motionless in the sky, perpetually hanging over the Western Capital. Even on this cloudy, rainy day, this cloud seed out of place compared to the others.
His eyesight was extrely sharp. To others, this pale cloud was just a strange-looking cloud. But in his eyes, this pale cloud was composed of countless corpses.
"Creation Little Five."
Li Yiran withdrew his gaze, chuckled softly, turned around, and said leisurely, "I've been waiting for you."
Behind him, a scholar dressed in a pale green Xiucai-style Daoist robe walked toward him. He was tall and well-built, with handso features, a fair complexion, and no beard. One hand held the white jade belt at his waist, the other held an oil-paper umbrella. Walking in the rainy alley, he seed sowhat languid.
He was precisely Creation Little Five.
The Li Family's Great Ancestor Lord stepped out from behind him, blocking his path.
At the sa ti, the Li Family's Founding Ancestor and forr Sect Leader walked out from two other small alleys, trapping Creation Little Five at the intersection.
Creation Little Five held his oil-paper umbrella, frowning slightly.
"Back then, when Chen Yindu wreaked havoc in the Western Capital, this old man personally erged from seclusion to gauge his depth."
Li Yiran, the Great Ancestor Lord of the Li Family, said leisurely. "That battle, this old man fought quite happily. Chen Yindu was indeed strong. We each took a step back. He would no longer investigate the matters of that year, and we would not pursue his killing of so many people. Chen Tang also did not have to die. Now, I'd like to gauge your depth, sir."
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