"Tribulation Crossing and Ascension were removed by the True King?"
A buzzing filled Chen Shi's mind. He had long noticed that the cultivation thods in the True King's Tomb differed greatly from those outside. The True King's Tomb thods lacked the four realms of miniature shrine, Divine Embryo, Divine Descent, and Emptiness Refining, and instead added the two realms of Tribulation Crossing and Ascension!
He had once guessed that the fall of the True King's era caused a rupture in civilization, that many techniques were lost or severely damaged, and later generations couldn't recover the Tribulation Crossing and Ascension realms, so they borrowed power from the True God.
But what he did not expect was that the Tribulation Crossing and Ascension realms had been deliberately removed by the True King himself!
"Is Yang Bi's account necessarily the truth? Maybe Yang Bi was just lying to ?"
He hesitated, thinking, "It could also be that the information Yang Bi obtained was deliberately spread falsehoods by others."
Yang Bi said, "The True King removed the Tribulation Crossing and Ascension realms, and added the four realms of miniature shrine, Divine Embryo, Divine Descent, and Emptiness Refining. Western Ox New Continent's Daoist arts regressed drastically, which then led to a catastrophe that destroyed the True King's era..."
"Wait!"
Chen Shi couldn't help but say, "Shaohu, why did the True King remove the Tribulation Crossing and Ascension realms? Why add the four realms of miniature shrine and Divine Embryo?"
Yang Bi said, "Our ancestral masters said that the True King went to Despair Slope once, and after he returned he ordered the sealing of immortals, cutting away the Tribulation Crossing and Ascension realms. They also said that, near the end of the True King's era, inexplicable things happened. People in the imperial capital dug up so rather bad things that caused severe contamination, and then an 'E' level catastrophe broke out. The True King's sealing of immortals and removal of realms was related to Despair Slope, but mostly also tied to those incomprehensible things."
Chen Shi's heart stirred slightly. He had heard rumors about the True King moving the capital.
Legend said the True King first established the capital in Xinxiang, which was then called the Imperial Capital, then moved to Yudu, and only afterward to the Western Capital.
"According to my Yang family's ancient records, the True King moved the capital roughly four tis, each ti related to a disaster," Yang Bi said.
"One hundred-li becos a demon, a thousand-li becos a disaster, ten thousand-li becos a calamity. Those four calamitous transformations must have caused enormous destruction, forcing the True King to relocate the capital, from the Eastern Coast all the way to the Western Coast. After the celestial changes, the True King removed the Tribulation Crossing and Ascension realms to respond to those changes."
Chen Shi frowned slightly.
Much of what Yang Bi said didn't quite add up. For example, why did a trip to Despair Slope force the True King to remove two high realms and add four others? Why would the True King seal immortals and make the world have no immortals?
But the True King didn't explain, and the Yang family's ancestral masters knew little about the True King's trip to Despair Slope, so Yang Bi had even less to go on.
"Can you tell more about the True King's sealing of immortals?" Chen Shi asked.
Yang Bi shook his head, "The ancestral masters only ntioned that the True King sealed the immortals; they didn't describe the exact thod."
He glanced at the white-clad fairy beneath the willow by Chen Shi's side, his expression shifting, but he said no more and continued, "Our ancestors, who witnessed the fall of the True King's era, realized the True King was wrong. The True King should not have sealed the immortals, nor should he have removed the Tribulation Crossing and Ascension realms. The True King was too cowardly. Faced with Despair Slope, he succumbed to fear. Because of that move, when Despair Slope struck Western Ox New Continent, the True King had no strength to resist! That glorious era collapsed overnight, the gods from China were extinguished, and the people of the Ming Dynasty beca trapped on this isolated Western Ox New Continent. The True King is a sinner!"
As he spoke, anger welled up in him.
Chen Shi nearly spoke up but decided to remain silent and listen on.
"Our Thirteen Great Clans' ancestral masters watched the fall of the True King's era. At that ti their power was insufficient; they could only helplessly watch the True King be killed and accept humiliation. But that disaster made the Thirteen Great Clans' ancestors resolve to amass strength and never be as cowardly as the True King. Our thirteen families, who once supplied pri ministers to the Cabinet, decided to seize all power and secretly grow stronger!"
Yang Bi said, "First, the Thirteen Great Clans had to control power in the mortal world, then reach into the underworld to seize its power as well, gather the world's incense offerings, and thereby obtain strength to contend with Despair Slope and the Celestial True God!"
"For over six thousand years, successive heads of the Thirteen Great Clans made even those who had reached Emptiness Refining and Ascension donate their Realm of Emptiness before death—each in their final monts contributed their Realm of Emptiness to form the Upper Realm."
"The Upper Realm is the Primordial Spirit world our Thirteen Great Clans built, a place to amass power."
"They planned thoroughly and accumulated strength for five thousand years, and fifteen hundred years ago finally decided to act against the underworld."
"Our Thirteen Great Clans gradually devoured the power of the Ten Kings of Hell, undermined the underworld officials, the judges and marshals, and replaced them with our own people. To date, the Ten Kings of Hell have all fallen into our hands."
"The thirteen ancestral masters calculated that when celestial changes reached their peak, the True God's power would be at its weakest. That would also be when Despair Slope's strength waned—our best chance to strike."
Yang Bi fell silent for a mont, then said, "Chen Shi, what the Thirteen Great Clans have done may not be glorious, and we have indeed done many wicked things, but it's all to restore the True King's prosperous age! Whether aiding the Young Master or seizing the Ten Kings of Hell in the underworld, it's all for this goal!"
Chen Shi replied, "The Thirteen Great Clans have not rely done evil. They stole the world for private gain, treating common people like grass. You've long beco thirteen enormous malignant spirits. Everything you've done was for your own aggrandizent. Even if you win, you'll only set yourselves up as kings—what does that have to do with the people?"
Yang Bi thought for a mont, then said, "You're right, Chen Shi. The Thirteen Great Clans do have huge selfish ambitions. Once we take advantage of the celestial changes and remove Despair Slope, we'll certainly fall into internal strife for power and the True King's seat. But before that happens, I will keep the Thirteen Great Clans united."
He stood and looked at Nannan playing with Black Pot, smiling as he said, "Chen Shi, I will persuade the Thirteen Great Clans not to bother you. Let Blue Sky the Righteous Official remain on this loess slope, quietly living as a carefree little girl. Chen Shi, stop ddling in underworld affairs."
He looked around and laughed, "This place is wonderful—mountains and rivers, the True King's Tomb nearby, and the old Imperial Capital next door. When the celestial changes co and Western Ox New Continent enters eternal night, I will coordinate the Thirteen Great Clans' forces to battle Despair Slope! If we win, I will co again to uproot all rebels here and kill them all."
From the darkness ca Huo Dog's uneasy roar, laced with threat.
Yang Bi paid it no mind and walked down the slope.
Chen Shi's voice called from behind him, "Shaohu, what if the Thirteen Great Clans fail?"
Yang Bi stopped, turned, and smiled at him.
"If the Thirteen Great Clans fail, isn't there still you?"
Chen Shi was stunned.
Yang Bi reached the loess slope, boarded the colored cloud carriage, and said with a smile, "But I will win! There will never be a second possibility! If we succeed, I will return to the loess slope and send you rebels on your way."
Chen Tang watched him, his face calm, and said, "I will be behind you."
Yang Bi laughed, "But you don't need to strike now, right?"
Chen Tang pondered and nodded slightly.
Three cyan-colored birds drew the colored cloud carriage into the sky, flapping their wings as they departed.
Chen Shi watched the carriage fly away. At that mont Chen Tang's voice ca, "This Yang Bi is extrely dangerous. Though young, his power is high."
Chen Shi asked, "How high?"
Chen Tang carried a wooden box up to the top of the slope and said, "I observed his Primordial Spirit and flesh are closely integrated; he should be on the verge of reaching the Body Unification realm."
Chen Shi was moved. Yang Bi looked only sixteen or seventeen, yet his cultivation had reached such a level!
"Is Despair Slope truly that powerful? Did it require the Thirteen Great Clans to accumulate incense offerings for over six thousand years to dare confront it?"
He stared in the direction Yang Bi had left and murmured, "If Despair Slope was powerful enough to make the True King despair, does the current Thirteen Great Clans truly have the strength to contend with it?"
Chen Tang said, "The Thirteen Great Clans' ancestral masters were powerful figures of the True King's era, pri ministers no less—likely the strongest of their ti. They likely could have cultivated to Ascension. Could an Ascension-level being still be alive now?"
Chen Shi's heart trembled at that thought.
He himself was at Spirit Transformation and already had two thousand years of lifespan.
Could any Ascension-level figure from the True King's era still be alive today?
"What exactly did the True King encounter at Despair Slope? Why did he co back changed, cowardly, willingly cutting away Tribulation Crossing and Ascension?"
Chen Shi murmured, "And the True King's sealing of immortals, the four calamitous transformations—Yang Bi didn't clarify any of that. The Thirteen Great Clans predicted future eternal night; will it really happen?"
He looked at the round moon in the sky. The moonlight was bright, and faintly he could make out the silhouette of the Celestial True God's face.
"Could the fall of the True King's era truly be connected to the Celestial True God? When eternal night occurs, will the Celestial True God's power really wane? What will happen in eternal night?"
He suddenly thought of a crucial point.
"Eternal night is only the True God's two suns closing their eyes; what if the True God also closes the eye on his brow? What would happen then?"
That possibility was not impossible!
Yang Bi rode the colored cloud carriage into the Upper Realm.
This Upper Realm already far exceeded the Western Ox New Continent in scope. Venerable Primordial Spirits hundreds of zhang tall sat stationed throughout, and so godlike Primordial Spirits were reinforcing the Upper Realm—raising a hand to guide a star river, lifting mountains, carving out waterways and lakes.
The Upper Realm reshaped itself under their hands.
If ordinary people from the outside world saw it, they would be stunned, but here it was normal.
The colored cloud carriage traveled into a jade-like domain and stopped in a misty region. Yang Bi alighted and saw Lingzhi mushrooms and immortal herbs everywhere—peaceful, suffused with immortal qi, like a fairyland.
On the clouds, titanic male and female figures leaned against the void.
Yang Bi bowed and kowtowed, "Junior Yang Bi pays respects to the ancestral masters."
Those towering figures were indeed the thirteen ancestral masters of the Thirteen Great Clans.
Their auras were profound and majestic, aligned with the Dao of heaven and earth, their motions carrying incomprehensible might.
They resembled immortals, their power unfathomable.
"Rise," an elder said.
Yang Bi stood upright, straight and respectful.
That elder was Yang Shi Zong, the Yang family's ancestral master who had served as a pri minister in the True King's era. He said, "Yang Bi, what were the results of your mission?"
Yang Bi replied, "The Ten Kings of Hell are a done deal. I also had a brief clash with one of Despair Slope's heirs and forced his retreat. As for Child Prodigy, I have stabilized him; he will not oppose us for so ti."
Yang Shi Zong smiled, "Good. You did well."
Yang Bi kept his eyes cast downward and avoided eting the ancestral masters' gazes.
These thirteen ancestral masters were titanic and boundless in cultivation, incredible, but their bodies were oddly strange. Thick strips of flesh and blood seed to grow either from them or from the void—one end rooted in empty space, the other anchored in their bodies!
The flesh had no skin; it was red strips like flayed arms or legs, with no visible bones. Occasionally they bulged as if sothing moved beneath, entering their bodies from the void!
A strong malevolent aura emanated from them, almost unpleasant.
Yang Shi Zong's voice rumbled, "This celestial change must be finished in a single decisive campaign; Despair Slope will be utterly solved!"
That night, the white-clad fairy returned to Chen Shi's small temple and lay down to sleep on the miniature shrine. Chen Shi also returned ho to sleep.
Around midnight, Chen Shi woke, lifting the quilt to look. The white-clad fairy was curled up beside him as if he had startled her by lifting the quilt. The woman's black, glossy eyes opened and blinked at him.
Chen Shi put the quilt down and fell back asleep.
The next morning, at so point the white-clad fairy had slipped out from under the covers. As Chen Shi was about to get up, he felt his qi surge and warmth in his lower abdon.
Only then did he realize certain parts of his body had changed—an upright pillar standing impossible to lay down. He hurriedly cald his mind and steeled his breath; after a long ti it returned to normal.
During the day it happened several more tis, much to his distress.
Worried about these bodily changes, Chen Shi brooded. His mother, Wu Qingyu, noticed he had been distracted and told Chen Tang, "Your son has sothing on his mind; he's been frowning these past days. Go ask him."
Chen Tang was surprised, "What could he be worried about?"
Still, he went to ask.
Chen Shi's face flushed as he stamred for a while before finally explaining the morning's bodily change.
Chen Tang suddenly understood and laughed, "You've grown up—you're old enough to marry now."
Chen Shi was stunned and delighted, "Really? Grandfather said I was still too young last year."
"Of course it's true."
Overflowing with joy, Chen Shi said to Black Pot, "Black Pot, I can marry now! Buddy, lend so blood and I'll make a few Peach Blossom Talismans!"
Black Pot was very envious.
Chen Tang warned him not to use Peach Blossom Talismans recklessly and told him not to share a bed with the white-clad woman at night, then returned to tell Wu Qingyu, "He's grown up and troubled by his body's changes. I've told him how to handle it. I think that white-clad woman, though amnesiac, depends on Little Ten; they could beco husband and wife."
Wu Qingyu shook her head, "I think she's many years older than Little Ten; it's not appropriate."
Chen Tang didn't care, "They're both cultivators—what's a few years?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers