On the Path to the Great Dao Chapter 313: Brain Damage 40

Chen Shi returned ho and imdiately opened Eunuch Liu's notebook, carefully reading through it. He focused mainly on the deciphered talisman scripts left by his grandfather Chen Yindu. In his view, although this Eunuch Liu was undoubtedly an outstanding figure of that era, his mastery of talismans certainly couldn't compare to Grandpa's.

However, the talisman scripts left by Chen Yindu also looked like ghostly scribbles. Chen Shi combined his previously learned talisman knowledge and gradually began to make so sense of the scripts his grandfather had left.

Judging from his understanding of the scripts, this should be a type of thunder thod, sharing so common ground with the Thunderous Jade Pivot Great thod that Chen Shi cultivated. But these few scripts were extrely difficult for him to comprehend, just like reading the immortal techniques from the golden scrolls in the True King's Tomb. After studying them for a short while, his head began to ache and feel dizzy.

The reason he could still see now without fainting was probably because he had cultivated the Thunderous Jade Pivot Great thod and had already gained a relatively deep understanding of thunder thods.

Nevertheless, these scripts still greatly drained his vitality. Before long, he grew drowsy and simply laid his head on the desk, falling into a deep sleep.

Not long after he fell asleep, a graceful figure dressed in snow-white clothes suddenly flew out from the small temple at the back of his head. Initially only an inch tall, by the ti she landed, she had transford into a curvaceous and elegant fairy.

In the study, Black Pot imdiately raised his head to look at the woman.

This woman was precisely the white-clothed female immortal from the end of the Bluestone Path at Qixia Taoist Temple. She raised a hand to support her forehead, as if she had a headache, and shook her head slightly.

She sensed Black Pot's gaze and turned to look, only to see Black Pot sleeping, seemingly dreaming of swimming, his two front legs making paddling motions.

The white-clothed female immortal withdrew her gaze, feeling as if her head was splitting with pain. She tried hard to recall what had happened to her, but after thinking for a long while, she couldn't rember anything.

She wandered around the study for a mont, examining the books in the room, flipping through them rapidly. She understood the text on the books at a glance and quickly browsed through over a dozen volus.

She then ca to the desk, tilting her head to look at the Eunuch Liu notebook in front of Chen Shi, as well as the few deciphered talisman scripts Chen Shi had transcribed.

After a mont, she picked up a brush and, referencing Eunuch Liu's notebook, drew several talisman scripts after the deciphered ones Chen Shi had transcribed, her expression very serious.

Suddenly, she sensed Chen Shi was about to wake up. She placed the paper and brush back in their original positions. A fragrant breeze blew past, and the white-clothed female immortal vanished back into his small temple, still lying on the miniature shrine pretending to sleep.

Black Pot breathed a sigh of relief and stopped swimming.

He had only been swimming for a short while but felt as tired as if he had swum over ten miles.

Chen Shi slowly woke up, feeling refreshed after his sleep. He whispered, "These few talisman scripts are probably immortal techniques, no wonder I fall asleep after looking at them for a while... Huh?"

It was only then that he noticed several new talisman scripts had been added after the ones he had transcribed on the paper!

These new talisman scripts were more concise than the ones drawn by his grandfather. As Chen Shi looked at one of them, a thunderclap seed to explode in his mind, and he faintly heard the whispers of a deity.

That language was obscure and extrely awkward, impossible for a human tongue to pronounce.

But Chen Shi seed to understand this language. If translated, it would be: "Yang essence shines brightly, yin ghosts shall decline. Divine vermilion blazing, light dew in the Supre Subtlety. Seven qi form the Dipper, three qi form the platform. All evil perishes, myriad ghosts submit and are crushed."

Within his body, it felt as if clusters of thunderlight exploded, rolling through his limbs and bones, causing both his physical body and Primordial Spirit to tremble simultaneously!

Utterly astonished, Chen Shi imdiately looked at the second talisman script. The deity's whispers in his mind changed once more.

"Perfect light of the Supre Ultimate, ruler's movent with divine power. The righteous qi of the Five Elents, revolves and operates endlessly. The origin of Primordial Chaos, moving scenes to achieve success. Assisting the Way with majestic penetration, commanding thunder and driving wind, all qi converges in harmony."

Thunder ford a Supre Ultimate diagram within him, refining his true energy, purifying his blood and qi. Then, the righteous qi of the Five Elents was born within his body, strengthening his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.

He exhaled and opened his mouth, thunderlight bursting forth, nearly blasting the study apart!

Chen Shi hurriedly activated his blood and qi to protect the books in the study, lest they be turned to dust by the thunderlight from his mouth.

His heart pounded wildly. Just monts ago, rely practicing the divine language made him feel that much of the gloomy, yin energy within his body had been refined away by the thunder!

This body, this Primordial Spirit, were actually gradually moving closer to pure yang!

And a body of pure yang, a Primordial Spirit of pure yang—these were clearly achievents only attainable after severing the Three Corpses in the Three Corpses realm!

Chen Shi looked at the third talisman script. The deity's whispers in his mind rolled past like thunder.

"The Ten Extremities all connect, preserving the Three Pris, flying through the vast sky. Beheading and destroying evil demons, commanding tigers and dragons. Evil thoughts forever severed, swiftly achieving the rit of the Way."

Chen Shi used the thunderous roars to practice. Suddenly, he felt his body beco incredibly light and agile. With a single thought, a loud cracking sound erupted in the study. A fierce wind arose, blowing books and papers all over the room into chaos.

Black Pot hurriedly looked up, only to see Chen Shi had already disappeared!

The study's doors and windows had been blasted open with a large hole. One window, along with a door, flew over a hundred feet away, landing on the roof of another house!

The other door was embedded in the opposite wall!

"Crack!"

The artificial mountain in the Chen residence's courtyard suddenly tilted and collapsed. A phoenix tree in the yard was struck as if by lightning, split down the middle, its heartwood ignited by thunderfire, crackling as it burned.

In the small fish pond in the courtyard, all the koi that Chen Tang had painstakingly raised were floating belly-up, apparently struck by lightning.

Several maids' heads looked like porcupines, their neatly tied hair puffed out in all directions, with wisps of black smoke still drifting from their mouths.

Black Pot rushed out of the study and looked up to see Chen Shi standing in the air a hundred zhang away, thunderlight flashing beneath his feet.

He stood in the air as if on flat ground.

Suddenly, another crack sounded. Chen Shi almost instantaneously appeared in the Chen residence's courtyard, electric sparks sizzling and crackling as they shot out in all directions from under his feet.

The maids hurriedly scattered to avoid them. The koi in the pond suffered several more lightning strikes, and the scent of fish soup wafted from the water.

Chen Shi stood dazed in place for a mont, then suddenly let out a loud cry and rushed back into the study.

The study was in complete disarray, papers everywhere. Chen Shi frantically searched and finally found the paper with the deciphered talisman scripts. His eyes shining, he looked at the fourth talisman script.

This script was more complex. After pondering it for a mont, divine language exploded in his mind, even more profound and mysterious.

"Green thunder, red qi, penetrates and aligns the Nine Palaces. Red thunder, yellow qi, moves thunder to the center. Yellow thunder, white qi, ascends to roam the upper firmant. White thunder, black qi, descends to roam the Northern Fengdu. Black thunder, green qi, fills the entire void. The Heavenly Cycle fire realm, blazing fierce winds."

A Heavenly Cycle fire realm ford within his body. The five innate qi—green, red, yellow, white, and black—circulated and refined endlessly. However, beyond that, there seed to be no other function.

Chen Shi was puzzled. The previous three scripts each had different divine effects: the first refined body and spirit with thunder, the second refined pure yang with thunder, the third allowed riding thunder to soar. Yet this fourth one was even more profound, but its purpose was unknown.

"It seems like another refining thod, but I don't know what it refines."

Chen Shi collected his thoughts, then began to consider another question.

"Where did these talisman scripts on this paper co from? Did my father return, see studying hard, couldn't bear to wake , and drew these four scripts on the paper to guide ? But... Chen Tang probably doesn't have the brains for that, right?"

Chen Shi's spirits lifted. "Could it be Grandpa returned from the underworld? Eunuch Liu's notebook has Grandpa's annotations on the scripts, but those were left when Grandpa was an official. Grandpa's insights now must be even more advanced!"

He examined the handwriting on the paper. The new scripts were more concise, containing more exquisite Daoist principles, but the handwriting wasn't Chen Yindu's. Moreover, the script was delicate and graceful.

Chen Shi turned suspiciously to look at Black Pot, who was lying on the ground pretending to sleep.

"Black Pot, it was you, right?"

Chen Shi pounced over, shouting, "You transford into a woman to repay , right? I knew it was you! Good brother, turn into a woman again and let see!"

Black Pot leapt up and fled.

"Right, Black Pot is male. How could he transform into a woman?"

Chen Shi blinked, thinking, "Could it be that a Field Snail Maiden also lives in my house?"

His heart stirred slightly as he rembered the blood-clothed woman he had saved in the Immortal Bridge Blessed Land. He hurriedly entered the small temple and saw the woman was still lying unconscious on the miniature shrine. However, at so point, her blood-stained clothes had turned white.

Chen Shi looked at Stone Ji Your Ladyship and secretly pointed at the white-clothed woman.

Stone Ji Your Ladyship focused her eyes on her nose and her nose on her heart, as if in deep ditation.

Chen Shi approached the white-clothed female immortal, standing a bit farther away, and quietly poked her shoulder.

No reaction.

Chen Shi poked twice more. The white-clothed female immortal slowly opened her eyes, still curled up lying in the miniature shrine, her dark, shiny eyes watching him.

"Young lady, you're awake?" Chen Shi asked joyfully.

The white-clothed female immortal nodded gently and quietly.

Chen Shi asked, "What's your na, young lady?"

The white-clothed female immortal lay there, her brows slightly furrowed, trying hard to rember. But after a long while, she couldn't recall anything.

Chen Shi's heart sank. He cautiously tested, "Can you speak?"

The white-clothed female immortal opened and closed her mouth, struggling for a long ti before making a sound: "Abah abah..."

She was extrely sad, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Could it be that I smashed her head in with a rock and broke her brain?" Chen Shi felt uneasy and sowhat guilty.

Back then, he had just comprehended the Ghost and God Three Transformations and woke from his muddled state. Not knowing the situation, he thought this woman was seriously injured and intended to send her to be reborn on the Immortal Bridge. So he had smashed her head hard with a large rock.

Chen Shi asked, "Do you rember how you got injured like this?"

The white-clothed female immortal shook her head.

Chen Shi breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, "It's good she doesn't rember. Since I'm the one who beat her stupid, I can't just ignore her."

He went to the temple entrance, picked so spiritual herbs, and offered them to the white-clothed female immortal, gesturing for her to take them.

"Abah abah." Chen Shi made eating motions, showing her how to take them, then suddenly rembered, "She understands what I'm saying!"

"Eat this, and you'll get better," Chen Shi said.

The white-clothed female immortal sat up and ate the spiritual herbs he had picked.

Chen Shi watched her with concern. After waiting a mont, he inquired, "Feeling any better?"

The white-clothed female immortal shook her head: "Abah."

Chen Shi felt troubled. He looked at Stone Ji Your Ladyship and said, "Your Ladyship, do you know how to treat this kind of soul-loss condition?"

"I don't know," Stone Ji Your Ladyship's voice was stiff.

Chen Shi had no choice but to say, "Co out with . I'll take you to find an imperial physician. There are many good doctors in the Western Capital."

The white-clothed female immortal shook her head, still lying on the miniature shrine, her hands cushioning her cheeks, as if she felt more comfortable inside the shrine.

Chen Shi had to let her be. He said, "Rest first, recover well from your injuries. You were beaten up by soone, it's very serious. Your brain might have been smashed by a bad person... Well, when I found you, you were already severely injured."

The white-clothed female immortal curled up lying in the miniature shrine, quietly listening to him.

Chen Shi exited the small temple and sighed quietly. He looked at the paper in his hand again, thinking, "Could these four talisman scripts have been drawn by her?"

He couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. That poor girl, beaten stupid by him—could she still draw such things?

Black Pot ran back, looked at his little master, and hesitated to speak. If he told the truth, he'd probably be killed by the female immortal, right?

Black Pot thought about it and decided to pretend he had been dreaming earlier and knew nothing.

"What happened to my house?"

Chen Tang's furious voice ca from outside. "What happened to my house? Was it struck by divine punishnt? My mountain! My phoenix tree! My fish!"

Without a second thought, Chen Shi stuffed that paper and Eunuch Liu's notebook into his robe and slipped outside.

Black Pot lowered his head and hurriedly followed him.

"My study!"

Chen Tang's trembling voice ca through. "The rare, unique ancient books I painstakingly collected over more than ten years! I was only gone for half a day..."

Chen Shi quickened his pace, running outward. From behind ca Chen Tang's furious, exasperated voice: "You unfilial son, prepare to die! Don't think you can run—"

Chen Shi panicked and dashed outside, shouting, "Black Pot, save !"

Black Pot sighed. A gust of yin wind howled, sweeping both the man and the dog into the underworld.

Chen Shi jumped onto the rapidly enlarging dog's back. Black Pot took off running. Behind them, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. The furious Chen Tang tore through the boundary between yin and yang, thrusting a gigantic head from the yang world into the underworld, looking around and shouting, "Unfilial son! Today I'll teach you what filial piety ans!"

"Black Pot, run faster!"

Chen Shi urged the dog on, fleeing for his life.

In the underworld, before the enormous black iron pillar, with the help of over ten thousand Heaven's Listeners, Zhuang Wujiu had activated each of the talisman script marks on the surface of this colossal object one by one. The divine light emitted by this treasure pierced heaven and earth. The slightest leakage of its power made the underworld's sky and earth unstable.

Suddenly, Zhuang Wujiu's expression changed. With a retching sound, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

The talisman script marks on the iron pillar's surface rapidly dimd. A counterforce struck back. Instantly, Heaven's Listeners exploded one after another with banging sounds, turning into clouds of blood mist!

In a re instant, more than half of the Heaven's Listeners died, finally bearing the brunt of the backlash.

Venerated Lord Guangxiao was also shaken, his body swaying slightly. But disregarding his own safety, he hurried forward to support Zhuang Wujiu.

"I'm fine."

Zhuang Wujiu raised a hand to stop him. Looking at this incredibly thick black iron pillar, he gazed upward but could only see it piercing into the gray, murky underworld sky, unable to see the end of this object.

"I still underestimated this treasure. My preparations weren't sufficient. I didn't fully decipher the scripts on its surface."

Zhuang Wujiu turned and flew toward the sky beyond, his voice trailing back. "Let's rest and regroup for a few more days. Summon more Heaven's Listeners, Venerated Kings, and Venerated Lords. Then we'll retrieve this treasure!"

Venerated Lord Guangxiao acknowledged the order and led the surviving Heaven's Listeners away.

Not long after they left, Chen Shi, fleeing from Chen Tang's pursuit, escaped to this place.

"Zhuang Wujiu and Venerated Lord Guangxiao aren't here?"

He was slightly taken aback. He called out to Black Pot, saying, "My father isn't chasing anymore. No need to run."

Black Pot stopped.

A flash of thunderlight appeared under Chen Shi's feet. With a flicker of thunderlight, he arrived beside the enormous iron pillar.

The pillar was engraved with all sorts of extrely complex patterns—twisting, carved, and outlined textures that writhed like dragons and snakes.

Chen Shi stepped on successive flashes of thunderlight, rising higher and higher. Suddenly, he saw a familiar script mark that precisely corresponded to the fourth new talisman script on that paper!

Chen Shi's heart stirred. As if guided by so unseen force, he reached out and pressed his hand against this massive, pitch-black pillar.

The Heavenly Cycle fire realm within his body suddenly spread out. The five innate qi transford into five thunders vibrating, flying out from the Heavenly Cycle fire realm like five colossal dragons of five colors. They poured into the script mark on the iron pillar, climbing and roaring along the depressions of the script mark, extending in all directions!

"Whoosh!"

In an instant, all the script marks on the iron pillar's surface lit up completely. Dazzling radiance shot straight through the clouds into the sky beyond!

Chen Shi was blinded by the divine light. Suddenly, all the brilliant radiance vanished. A black iron rod appeared before him, floating quietly in the air.

Zhuang Wujiu had just flown out of the underworld at that mont. Sensing the violent shaking of the underworld's heaven and earth, he hurriedly looked back and felt his hands and feet turn cold.

All he saw was a vast expanse of white between heaven and earth. That ancient, eternally existing colossal pillar had disappeared without a trace!