Chapter 288
Chapter 288
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Translator: Ace
Chapter:
Chapter Title: The Little Various Heavens
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Chen Shi went downstairs and said to Blackie Pot, “Blackie Pot, you and the wooden cart go back first. Tell Chen Tang I’m staying overnight at Fifth Uncle’s and won’t be coming home tonight.”
Blackie Pot looked serious and barked twice at him.
Chen Shi said, “He said it himself—I’m not his son. Even if he’s angry, it’s useless. Go on and tell him.”
Blackie Pot had no choice but to lead the wooden cart back to the Chen residence, his heart filled with unease.
When they arrived at the Chen residence, Chen Tang was waiting at the dinner table for Chen Shi to return. The meal was already prepared. Seeing Blackie Pot come back alone, he couldn’t help feeling surprised.
“Woof woof!”
Blackie Pot barked at him.
“Staying overnight at Chen Wu’s place?”
Chen Tang’s expression didn’t change. He picked up his chopsticks and said flatly, “Got it. Go wash your paws and eat.”
Blackie Pot went to wash his paws. From behind him came the crisp snapping sound of chopsticks breaking.
He turned to look. Chen Tang set the broken chopsticks aside, drew out a new pair, and remained utterly calm.
Blackie Pot finished his meal with his heart pounding. Fortunately, Chen Tang showed no further signs of trouble, and the chopsticks stayed intact.
After clearing the dishes, Blackie Pot approached the round stool where Chen Tang had sat. His tail brushed against it, and suddenly the stool crumbled silently into powder.
Blackie Pot looked down to see the stool reduced to a pile of fine dust.
“Blackie Pot, you broke the stool. Remember to buy a new one tomorrow.” Chen Tang’s voice came from the courtyard.
Blackie Pot, accustomed to taking the blame, let out a aggrieved bark.
Chen Shi returned to Little Five the Creator’s room. Little Five the Creator fetched a bronze mirror and said, “I’ve refined the Little Various Heavens into this mirror. Give it a try.”
Chen Shi took the mirror and examined it. It was an ordinary bronze mirror, with grapevines carved on the back and a fox below, gazing up at a bunch of grapes on the vine, all framed by chi dragon patterns.
The front was a polished copper surface, highly reflective.
He glanced at the front and saw a streak of light in the mirror, like a crack.
As he examined it closely, an irresistible pull suddenly surged toward him. The crack expanded massively, crashing toward him!
Chen Shi cried out in alarm as his body lifted into the air and slammed into the ever-growing crack.
He thought he would shatter to pieces, but instead he passed right through. White clouds rushed toward his face. He pierced thick layers of cloud, then his feet touched solid ground—he was standing steadily atop the clouds.
The cloud layer rippled beneath his feet like waves: low valleys in places, towering peaks in others, undulating endlessly.
Little Five the Creator snatched up the nearly falling bronze mirror and set it on the table before stepping into the mirror as well.
He appeared beside Chen Shi and smiled. “This is the Little Various Heavens.”
Before the words had fully left his mouth, a massive sun tore through the clouds, slowly rising from the sea of clouds. The sun was about a hundred zhang across, radiating blazing heat that illuminated all directions.
As the sunlight bathed him, Chen Shi immediately sensed the familiar surge of solar righteous qi.
Before he could fully take in the sun, a dazzling light erupted beneath his feet, piercing through the clouds and growing hotter by the moment.
Chen Shi hurriedly retreated, only to see another sun rising from below!
“Two suns, just like outside!” Chen Shi exclaimed in surprise.
At that moment, two more places in the sea of clouds lit up as two additional suns rose, bringing the total to four blazing orbs hanging in the sky!
Little Five the Creator said proudly, “Take a closer look!”
Suddenly, the ground shook beneath Chen Shi’s feet. Something massive was moving, shoving him and the clouds aside!
He staggered, then had his nascent soul float up to steady himself. Looking down...
Below, a gigantic eye was slowly opening, also about a hundred zhang across. The movement earlier had been its eyelid!
Beneath the eyelid, the eye radiated a pure, brilliant glow identical to moonlight!
But strangest of all, the eye actually had a pupil inside it!
Floating above the moon-eye, Chen Shi watched as the pupil rolled, fixing on him, then rolled again to gaze elsewhere. Soon after, not far away, another eyelid lifted, revealing a second moon-eye!
Chen Shi moved through the air, trying to spot where the eyelids retracted to, but never found them.
Just then, he noticed the starry river within the Little Various Heavens: countless stars of all sizes forming a banded river, floating above the suns and moons!
Chen Shi hurried over, but the stars in the river had bizarre shapes.
The smaller ones were seven or eight chi across, the larger six or seven zhang, all emitting starlight that turned into heaven-earth righteous qi.
Here, the heaven-earth righteous qi was incredibly dense, far surpassing the outside world!
Cultivating here wouldn’t just double results with half the effort—it would multiply them several times over!
But Chen Shi’s expression gradually turned strange.
Before him, the stars formed a river, flowing through the starry sky of the Little Various Heavens with a rushing sound.
Some stars were pentagrams, others tetragrams; some round, some square; some like pavilions, some like pagodas, some like golden tripods.
There were even stars shaped like wolf heads on human bodies—likely the Kui star from the White Tiger constellation; dragon-like ones, probably the Horn star; rabbit-shaped ones, the Room star. And so on, all utterly bizarre.
Little Five the Creator walked up, boarded a small boat in the starry river, and said smugly, “Little Ten, this is the Little Various Heavens I refined using the void realms of two Li family ancestors. Aristocratic disciples often cultivate in the void realms of their clan’s experts. But when Stillness Realm or Great Vehicle Realm experts die, their void realms dissipate and can’t be preserved. I, however, used the void realms of two Great Vehicle experts to forge this Little Various Heavens!”
“Fifth Uncle, that’s incredible!”
Chen Shi exclaimed in admiration, boarding the star raft. “Aristocratic disciples cultivating in void realms—how could rural scholars ever catch up?”
He shook his head. Rural kids simply didn’t have such opportunities.
Little Five the Creator said, “Your grandfather once said that rural disciples and aristocratic ones have small gaps at low realms, but the gaps widen at higher realms. He spent the first half of his life trying to change that, only to bash his head bloody against the wall and leave the court in despair.”
Chen Shi deeply agreed.
At the lowest cultivation levels, everyone practiced the Heavenly Heart Righteous Qi Art and the Submidnight Evil-Slaying Sword, with similar progress and strength.
But as realms rose, the gap between poor kids and aristocratic ones grew ever larger.
This gap showed not only in strength at the same realm but also in the realms themselves—aristocrats always outpaced those from poor backgrounds.
Grandpa Chen Yindu had spread the Heavenly Heart Righteous Qi Art, and if he’d shared the follow-up techniques, it would narrow the rural-aristocrat gap considerably—but a gulf would remain. “Their void realms are all wrong, though,” Little Five the Creator said.
Chen Shi surveyed his surroundings and nodded. “In my little temple, you can see the starry sky of Huaxia Divine Continent. The starry river there doesn’t look like this at all, nor do the stars match those in the Little Various Heavens! The Li ancestors who opened these void realms probably never saw real stars, didn’t know what they were, and just improvised.”
Little Five the Creator sneered. “They must’ve gone by ancient texts’ descriptions, taking them literally, so they made all sorts of mismatched star shapes in their void realms.”
Chen Shi nodded slightly. “The sun and moon are wrong too.”
“The sun and moon are wrong? No wonder there’s so much evil qi mixed in with the heaven-earth righteous qi here.”
Little Five the Creator came to a realization and laughed. “But don’t worry—I’ve absorbed all the evil qi from this Little Various Heavens. It won’t affect you.”
Chen Shi felt a surge of deep gratitude.
Truth be told, he felt far more at ease and close with Little Five the Creator than with Chen Tang.
Perhaps due to preconceptions, Chen Tang always gave off a strict father vibe—their talks often turned into arguments after a few sentences. Little Five the Creator was like both a father and a brother, always with plenty to chat about.
Chen Shi said, “Grandpa taught me the Luo Heaven Grand Rite, with twelve hundred gods—including many Star Lords.”
With a thought, he formed talismans, constructing the twelve hundred talismans of the Luo Heaven Grand Rite in the air.
The talismans shifted from flat to three-dimensional, manifesting twelve hundred deities. Each deity emanated a unique aura and divine light.
Chen Shi had previously expended essence with the Thunderclap Jade Pivot Great Method, so summoning the Luo Heaven Grand Rite left him short of qi and blood. He coughed twice. “These Star Lords’ auras don’t match the stars in the river.”
“That’s why even top experts are idiots.”
Little Five the Creator examined the Luo Heaven Grand Rite appreciatively and chuckled. “If you weren’t low on essence, I’d drag you to meet those idiots in West Capital, barge into their void realms, and mock them properly.”
The “idiots” he meant—fifty or sixty in West Capital—were the ancestors of the Thirteen Great Clans and other Stillness Realm Great Vehicle experts. They lorded over the world, their status transcendent, revered by all.
But to Little Five the Creator, anyone who botched their void realm was an idiot—what else?
To others, their favor was the highest honor; cultivating in their void realms was ancestral blessings. To him, entering those realms was like casually visiting to check if his “provisions” were still fresh.
“But the Luo Heaven Grand Rite is the weakest of the three great rites. Once you recover, I’ll teach you the Zhou Heaven Grand Rite.”
Little Five the Creator continued, “The Zhou Heaven has twenty-four hundred Huaxia gods, second in power. The Pu Heaven Grand Rite has thirty-six hundred gods—the strongest.”
He sighed, his expression dimming. “If Father were still alive, if we hadn’t fallen out... we’d probably have restored the Pu Heaven Grand Rite by now. Back then, even together we couldn’t eradicate a single great clan. If he were here, we’d have seven or eight parts confidence, right?”
Lost in reminiscence, he grew melancholic. Chen Shi’s eyes widened.
Grandpa had done such lawless things with Little Five the Creator?
Little Five the Creator rallied his spirits. “Cultivate here properly and restore your essence. I need to head out tonight.”
“Where to, Fifth Uncle?” Chen Shi asked.
Little Five the Creator smiled. “When the four Li ancestors ganged up on me, they said if I won, they’d tell me who severed your innate dao fetus. I killed two, crippled the other two. I was injured a few days ago and busy refining this Little Various Heavens, so I held off. Tonight’s perfect to chat with them.”
Chen Shi hurriedly said, “I’ll go with you!”
Little Five the Creator shook his head. “No. Meeting them might mean another fight. With you along, I’d hold back—like gripping an umbrella in one hand while fighting with the other.”
Chen Shi didn’t quite get it.
Little Five the Creator left the Little Various Heavens and strode out the door, heading to the Li residence in West Capital.
At the Li residence, he knocked. Moments later, a servant rushed over. “The old master knew you were coming and has been waiting days. This way!”
Little Five the Creator followed him in.
In the back garden, lights blazed. Void realms floated in the air, each beneath an ancient-faced elder standing motionless.
Little Five the Creator looked at them—most he’d fought and beaten. He nodded and smiled in greeting.
“Little Five the Creator, it’s not that we fear you.”
Li family patriarch Li Yiran hobbled forward on his cane—his leg still broken from Little Five the Creator. Unhealed, he said flatly, “Feuds should be resolved, not deepened. We won’t fight you again.”
“Thanks.”
Little Five the Creator thanked him, inwardly regretful. He’d have liked to turn these old codgers into rations, but Chen Yindu had taught him to express thanks in such cases.
“Do you two still stand by your words?” he asked.
Li Yiran and Li Ganhua exchanged glances, then looked to the ancestors of the Zhang, Xia, Xu, Jiang, and other eleven clans. The white-haired elders nodded.
Fei family patriarch said, “This doesn’t concern us. Stop making us take the blame.”
Li Yiran leaned on his cane and said gravely, “Chen Wu, you and Chen Yindu were always up to no good, probing the secrets of the True King era’s fall. Do you know who’s behind the Heavenly Listeners? Who receives the Venerable King’s compiled annals of world events? Who awaits the true gods from beyond the heavens?”
Little Five the Creator’s face changed slightly.
Li Ganhua said, “You’ve been to Despair Slope. Do you know what’s really behind it?...
Inside the Little Various Heavens, Chen Shi’s mind was in turmoil, distracted by thoughts of who had severed his innate dao fetus, dooming him to an untimely death. That person hadn’t just harmed him—they’d hurt Grandpa Chen Yindu, Chen Tang, and his mother too!
He desperately wanted to know his enemy’s identity and avenge himself personally!
But Chen Shi calmed down, knowing impatience wouldn’t help. He circulated his qi and blood, drawing a Tranquil Heart Talisman with a thought to steady his mind.
Moments later, he activated the Soaring Lang Emperor Scripture, attempting to replenish his lost essence.
He had cultivated the Soaring Lang Emperor Scripture to the sixth heaven, but after using the Thunder Ancestor True Body, he could only manage three heavens; the fourth was already taxing.
Chen Shi first circulated the three heavens. Heaven-earth righteous qi surged toward him from the Little Various Heavens, supplemented by that from his little temple.
With help from the Talisman God Heavenly Mechanism, Lady Shiji, and his nascent soul, the two righteous qis converged, tempered in the three heavens, and transformed into vigorous qi and blood that refined into his body!
This Little Various Heavens came from two Li Great Vehicle ancestors’ void realms—their lifelong cultivation condensed, with supremely pure heaven-earth essence. Little Five the Creator had removed the evil qi, leaving only perfect nourishment for Chen Shi!
Seated on the little boat drifting through the starry river, as his essence gradually filled, a fourth thunder heaven formed behind his head.
In just half a shichen, the fifth heaven formed.
An hour later, his qi and blood brimmed as the sixth heaven took shape.
Originally, with his essence so depleted, even lying in his coffin at Mirror Lake Manor on Qianyang Mountain would take six or seven days to recover. Here in the Little Various Heavens, it took only two hours!
By midnight, a seventh thunder heaven formed behind his head.
The Tranquil Heart Talisman had long dissipated, but he sat serenely on the boat, letting it drift with the starry river to wherever.
At dawn, he awoke from meditation. The depletion from the Thunderclap Jade Pivot Great Method was fully mended. An eighth heaven now floated behind his head, and his nascent soul had grown a full circle!
Chen Shi stood, stepped off the boat, leaped from the Little Various Heavens, and landed on the floor of Little Five the Creator’s room.
Little Five the Creator wasn’t there.
Children’s shouts and laughter echoed from the alley outside. Chen Shi pushed open the window and looked down to see Little Five the Creator playing cuju with several kids, kicking energetically.
Little Five the Creator sensed his gaze, stopped the ball underfoot, looked up, and smiled.