Chapter 271
Chapter 271
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 271
Chapter Title: Chapter 271 The appearance of heaven and earth is all my image
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Granny Sha and the others didn't take too much—just seven of the man-tall iron caltrops, five baskets of the fist-sized ones, and they left the medium-sized ones untouched. They also grabbed some Franquis cannons along with their sub-mother shells, a dozen fire arrows, several firelocks, and a number of bowl-mouth muskets.
"Zhuge Jian likes these firelocks. I'll grab a few extra for him."
Situ Wen said, "Instructor, I'd like to take some of these firearms back for study."
Chen Shi handed him a few wooden boxes he'd made himself and let him pack them as he pleased.
Situ Wen was both surprised and delighted. He packed some of every kind, from the grand army cannons and firelocks to all sorts of large and small shot.
He didn't take much of each—just three or four samples.
Hu Xiaoliang asked in confusion, "Heavenly Craftsman, what do you need all these firearms for?"
Situ Wen laughed. "As the Heavenly Craftsman of the Celestial Court, how could I rely on others? I'll disassemble and study them, then we can make our own."
Hu Xiaoliang jumped in alarm and hurriedly pulled him aside. "Making these things is a capital offense!"
Situ Wen looked surprised. "Everything we're doing these days isn't a capital crime?"
Hu Xiaoliang glanced around. They were in the imperial Guangji Arsenal, hauling off the court's own firearms—wasn't that a capital crime?
"My Luban Guild has blacksmiths, and Red Mountain Hall has talisman masters. With all the manpower, we can definitely figure it out."
Situ Wen continued, "We should start researching and producing them now, so we're ready when the time comes."
Hu Xiaoliang blinked. Ready when? For what?
He carried his wooden boxes away, brimming with excitement.
Granny Sha and Qingyang had their own hauls too, and they left fully satisfied.
"Little Ten, aren't you taking any?" Granny Sha asked.
Chen Shi shook his head. "Leaving them here is no different from leaving them at home. At home, they'd just take up space."
Granny Sha asked, "Has Chen Tang been treating you well?"
Chen Shi replied, "Neither cold nor warm."
Granny Sha said, "If he bullies you, tell your big sis. I'll sort him out for you. Though Old Man Chen really did wrong him... It wasn't you who wronged him, so he can't take it out on you! By the way, are we grabbing all these firearms to wipe out the treacherous ministers at court?"
Qingyang said excitedly, "To toss iron caltrops in during morning assembly?"
Chen Shi shook his head. "We're going to capture a reincarnated underworld bailiff named Zhong Kui. Word is he committed a crime in the underworld and reincarnated around Duxian County."
He explained about Boat Aunt and her daughter, and how his mother's soul had run into trouble and been trapped in the underworld. Granny Sha was astonished. "Your mother's soul went to the underworld and found you?"
Chen Shi said, "That's what Boat Aunt said."
Granny Sha fell silent for a moment, then said, "Before your mother's soul went missing, she'd been mad for over a year, then lost her soul entirely. Who'd have thought she'd find you down there. Chen Tang begged me to call her soul back several times, but I never could. She must've already found you by then—how could she bear to leave you?"
She sighed deeply.
She'd witnessed it all back then and thought Chen Shi's mother had wandered off because the grief was too much for her soul to bear. Now it seemed her soul had indeed left, but it never returned because she'd found Chen Shi and couldn't bear returning to the mortal world where mother and son lived worlds apart in life and death.
"Those two bailiffs aren't good people. This Zhong Kui they mentioned must be a tough one to deal with."
Granny Sha smiled. "But with Granny here, it'll be a piece of cake."
Chen Shi felt as if a weight had lifted from his heart. He saw the others off and quietly waited for news from Zhuge Jian.
Duxian County was a long way off—two days' travel round trip. During the day, he was on duty at the Guangji Arsenal. When people came with orders to withdraw arms, he let the deputy handle the paperwork while he focused on his cultivation.
Since arriving in Xijing, he hadn't had time to properly study his cultivation. Now, with some leisure, he could finally cultivate the Vault-Lang Emperor Chapter Art in peace.
The Vault-Lang Emperor Chapter Art shared much in common with the Eight Extremes Golden Vault Divine Chapter, like an extension of it.
The Golden Vault Divine Chapter established the eight extremes. When activated, it spread the nascent soul force field, forming a barrier space about half a mu in radius. At the eight extremes stood eight golden vault divine gates, where divine power gathered to temper the body and nascent soul, advancing one's cultivation.
Being within the barrier turned that half-mu space into a grand circulation cycle, linked to the natural heaven and earth.
This cycle was many times larger than the one inside the body, so cultivation progressed much faster.
The Vault-Lang Emperor Chapter Art treated such a grand cycle from the Golden Vault Divine Chapter as a single vault-heaven. At the nascent soul stage, one refined nine such vault-heavens—nine layers of cycles—so the cultivation speed was extremely fast, and the body-tempering even more ferocious.
The manual stated that externally refining the Dao body made it undecaying through the ages. Meaning, upon death, the Dao body remained lifelike, unrotting for a very long time.
After these days of trials, Chen Shi was seventy to eighty percent confident he could cultivate it without mishap, so he activated the Vault-Lang Emperor Chapter Art.
He still didn't dare slack off, so he set Lady Shiji as the first divine embryo, the madcap Talisman God Tianji as the second, and placed all the ginseng grass dolls on the third divine shrine. With three layers of divine embryos to bolster him, even if something went wrong, he'd have the reserves to correct it.
After all, the Vault-Lang Emperor Chapter Art was an immortal-grade technique from the Tomb of the True King. Any error could lead to devastating qi deviation, so caution upon caution was essential.
Chen Shi found an empty warehouse in the Guangji Arsenal and circulated the art. With his experience from the Eight Extremes Golden Vault, the first vault-heaven formed quickly. The second and third posed little difficulty. At the fourth, he sensed it was getting hard to maintain four layers of cycles.
He pushed to the fifth, but both his spirit and vital blood were straining. He immediately gave up on the sixth and settled for cultivating with five vault-heavens.
In the Vault-Lang Emperor Chapter Art, "vault" referred to the cycle formed by the force field, Dao arena, or void great realm, while "Lang" evoked a jade-like sublime immortal landscape. As for "Emperor Chapter," it meant nine talismans manifesting in chapter form.
Chen Shi hadn't seen these nine talismans in Grandpa's talisman treasures manual or artifact creation manual.
Each heaven's talisman form was unique. From the manual, he inferred these nine emperor chapter talismans represented nine primal qi forms inherent in the natural heaven and earth—the righteous qi of heaven and earth.
Standing at the center of the five vault-heavens, with five emperor chapter talismans at his feet, endless heaven-earth righteous qi flowed in. Passing through the five cycles, it nourished him back, steadily elevating his cultivation.
Half a day's practice here outpaced two or three days before.
As dusk fell, Chen Shi concluded his session and took Blackie Pot home.
After two straight days of cultivation, the fifth vault-heaven had expanded to about a mu in size. It was fine in the spacious arsenal warehouse, but at home, there'd be no room.
"No wonder the books say to seek cave-heavens and blessed lands for cultivation. At nascent soul realm, with a force field spanning a mu or so, practicing in the city is indeed inconvenient." Chen Shi's heart stirred. "I wonder if I can handle the sixth vault-heaven now?"
His cultivation had surged these past days. His vital blood, spirit, and body had been greatly tempered, making him feel as if his flesh was no longer mere mortal meat, but divine.
If he could manage the sixth vault-heaven, his progress would accelerate even more!
Chen Shi immediately borrowed power from Lady Shiji, Tianji, and the ginseng grass dolls to tune his vital blood to peak condition. He summoned his nascent soul and activated the sixth vault-heaven. It slowly unfurled, rapidly draining his spirit and vital blood.
The consumption was so fierce he knew at once it was bad and halted the activation!
The nine vault-heavens of the Vault-Lang Emperor Chapter Art grew progressively larger. The fifth spanned a mu; the sixth had to exceed that. The strain on spirit, vital blood, nascent soul, and body was immense.
But when he tried to disperse the sixth, he felt vital blood surging back, instantly overwhelming the fifth, fourth, and third! His layered nascent soul cycle force fields collapsed in a rush, forming towering waves that surged into his body all at once!
Every step in cultivation had its purpose, and concluding the session was crucially important.
One slowly drew the refined vital blood back into the body, storing it in the nascent soul and flesh to achieve returning fire to origin. Young Master Xiao and the others had taught Chen Shi this principle.
Without returning fire to origin, cultivation was often wasted—the gained vital blood couldn't be retained. Especially at higher realms, the vital blood was vast, the nascent soul's capacity terrifying. The force field it formed could shatter and melt anything!
Such vital blood crashing into the body would cause unimaginable damage! And as an immortal-grade art, the Vault-Lang Emperor Chapter Art's destructive power was even greater!
Chen Shi realized the gravity and immediately mobilized Lady Shiji, Tianji, and the ginseng grass dolls as divine embryos. Using them, he forcibly suppressed the onrushing vital blood, channeling the raging tide into the little temple. The vital blood swirled around Lady Shiji and the others, weaving through the divine boxes like coiling dragons.
The air in the little temple churned violently, as if unable to withstand the onslaught.
But with the three divine embryos equivalent to three primordial spirits, they quickly helped him calm the rampage. Chen Shi returned fire to origin, endless vital blood flowing steadily into his nascent soul and body.
He opened his eyes and exhaled a mouthful of turbid qi.
"Divine embryos are too important for cultivation."
Chen Shi stood, lit incense for Lady Shiji, Tianji, and the ginseng grass dolls, and murmured, "Without divine embryos to regulate qi, cultivation is slow, and qi deviation means no self-rescue."
Divine embryos were like primordial spirits—true god-granted ones—that aided in regulating qi and cultivation, minimizing dangers. Better divine embryos meant faster progress and fewer perils!
"I wonder how Grandpa solved these two problems."
Chen Shi suddenly thought of how Grandpa had the weakest divine embryo, slowing his cultivation and making qi deviation at high realms deadly. Yet Grandpa was a supreme powerhouse, the Xijing Butcher. How had he cultivated?
At that moment, his heart stirred. His awareness entered the temple and emerged outside the little temple.
He looked at the couplet by the temple door.
"Heaven's omens and earth's portents are all my likeness. Better to seek oneself than gods or ghosts."
Chen Shi murmured softly, "What exactly is Godmother Stone trying to tell me..." Then inspiration struck, and he flashed out of the little temple.
He summoned his nascent soul, which floated before the little temple.
Divine light shone from within, and his nascent soul was already inside.
"Lady, come down to another divine shrine." Chen Shi's nascent soul looked up.
Lady Shiji peered down, saw it was his nascent soul, and though reluctant, jumped down from the shrine, shaking the little temple. She went to another shrine, grabbed Talisman God Tianji, and barked, "To another shrine with you!"
Talisman God Tianji glared furiously, but Lady Shiji clenched her fist. He slunk to another divine box. The ginseng grass dolls had already scampered down to plant themselves in the temple yard outside. Chen Shi's nascent soul flew up and settled cross-legged in the central shrine.
"Heaven's omens and earth's portents are all my likeness. Better to seek oneself than gods or ghosts. Does Godmother mean I've been wrong to use external gods as divine embryos? That heavenly gods and earthly spirits are mere reflections of my own mind? So better to enshrine myself than seek gods or ghosts!"
He activated the Vault-Lang Emperor Chapter Art again. Layer upon layer of vault-heavens unfurled in sequence.
Previously, he'd sat on the ground with his nascent soul cross-legged in his dantian sea of fire, eyes closed. The vault-heavens then spread across the ground.
Now, with his nascent soul enthroned in the central shrine, activating the art made layer upon layer of vault-heavens bloom behind his head, spreading into the sky. Each larger than the last, they layered without overlapping.
By the fifth vault-heaven, it spanned a mu.
Chen Shi felt his nascent soul regulating his spirit and vital blood with ease. He pushed onward to the sixth. It unfurled smoothly, free of the prior peril and stagnation!
The sixth vault-heaven was about one and two-thirds mu!
At the center of each of the six vault-heavens sat a different emperor chapter talisman, beaming divine light that bathed the little temple behind his head and his body, ceaselessly tempering nascent soul and flesh! Empowered by the six emperor chapter talismans, his cultivation surged, and he grasped the meaning of the undecaying body of ages past!
"This is a true immortal-grade art! Marvelous—utterly marvelous!" Chen Shi was wild with joy.
He'd never grasped Godmother's words until thinking of Grandpa's path, which unlocked it!
He cultivated long, and when he awoke, his nascent soul had grown to a foot tall, pure white throughout. Its eyes opened, shooting divine light; it soared and burrowed with unmatched speed. Chen Shi was thrilled. At this point, his nascent soul realm was a major accomplishment!
To continue, he needed only to fuse soul and nascent soul—what was called refining the embryo to return to origin. The "embryo" here was the infant, the nascent soul. Merging cultivator's soul with nascent soul to refine embryo and return to origin led to the Incarnation realm, hence Incarnation realm.
Chen Shi sat and drew out his soul. The heavenly gate atop his head opened, and his soul rose from within, stepping out of his body. This soul matched Chen Shi's height, radiating white halos, a shimmering expanse.
Chen Shi tapped it—clang clang—like striking something solid and sturdy. "This is my soul?"
He stared, then knocked harder. It rang like a great temple bell, numbing his arm. "I must've eaten too many soul-restoring lotuses."
Chen Shi reflected, then grew troubled. His soul had consumed too many soul-restoring lotuses from the underworld, refined into a solid iron lump. How could it fuse with his nascent soul for refining embryo to origin?
"Others say once the nascent soul reaches a foot tall, incarnation is possible—but they never said what if it's as tall as the body." Inspiration struck Chen Shi, and he laughed. "If I refine my nascent soul to match my size, won't it fuse perfectly with the soul?"
Having solved one puzzle, he withdrew his soul, left the Guangji Arsenal, and returned to Xijing. It was already afternoon, nearing dusk. Crowds streamed endlessly from outside the city toward it. Just then, the throng erupted in clamor, countless voices shouting.
"Young Master!"
"The Young Master has arrived in Xijing!"
Chen Shi's heart jolted. He turned toward the city gate, where masses surged. Outside, the evening glow filled the sky, dyeing it red.