Chapter 313
Chapter 313
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: [Number]
Chapter Title: The White-Clothed Immortal's Aid
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Chen Shi returned home and immediately flipped open Eunuch Liu's notes, reading them carefully. He focused mainly on the deciphered runes left behind by his grandpa Chen Yindu. In his opinion, while this Eunuch Liu was undoubtedly an outstanding figure of that era, his mastery of talismans surely couldn't compare to Grandpa's.
The runes Grandpa had left were just as messy and scribble-like as ghost drawings. Chen Shi combined them with the talisman knowledge he had learned before and gradually pieced together some clues from Grandpa's runes.
From what he could understand of the runes, this seemed to be a kind of thunder art, sharing some similarities with the Thunderclap Jade Pivot Great Law that Chen Shi cultivated. However, these particular runes were extremely taxing for him to look at, just like the immortal arts on those rolls of golden scripture in the Tomb of the True King. After studying them for a moment, his head began to throb and spin.
The fact that he hadn't passed out yet was probably because he had cultivated the Thunderclap Jade Pivot Great Law and already had a fairly deep understanding of thunder arts.
Even so, this rune drained his vital energy greatly. Before long, he felt drowsy and simply collapsed over the desk, falling into a deep sleep.
Not long after he fell asleep, a graceful figure in snow-white robes suddenly flew out from the little temple at the back of his mind. At first, she was only an inch tall, but by the time she landed, she had become a swaying, enchanting immortal maiden.
In the study, Blackie Pot immediately lifted its head and looked toward the woman.
That woman was precisely the white-clothed female immortal from the end of the white jade path in Perched霞 Temple. She raised a hand to her forehead, as if suffering from a headache, and shook her head.
She noticed Blackie Pot's gaze and turned to look, only to see Blackie Pot sleeping, seemingly dreaming of swimming with its front legs paddling in the air.
The white-clothed female immortal withdrew her gaze, only feeling her head splitting with pain. She tried hard to recall what had happened to her, but after half a day, she remembered nothing.
She wandered around the study for a moment, examining the books inside. She flipped through them at high speed, instantly understanding the words on the pages. Soon, she had skimmed through more than a dozen books.
She came to the desk and tilted her head to look at Eunuch Liu's notes in front of Chen Shi, as well as the deciphered runes he had copied down.
After a moment, she picked up the brush. Comparing it to Eunuch Liu's notes, she drew several runes after the deciphered ones Chen Shi had copied, her expression very serious.
Suddenly, she sensed that Chen Shi was about to wake up. She put the paper and brush back in place. A fragrant breeze blew through, and the white-clothed female immortal vanished back into his little temple, still sprawled on the Divine Shrine pretending to sleep.
Blackie Pot let out a breath of relief and stopped paddling.
It had only paddled for a short while, yet it felt as exhausted as if it had swum more than ten li.
Chen Shi woke up groggily, feeling refreshed after the sleep.
He murmured softly,
"These runes are probably immortal arts. No wonder I fall asleep after looking at them for a while... Huh?"
Only then did he notice that several new runes had appeared after the ones he had copied on the paper!
These new runes were even more concise than the ones Grandpa had drawn. As Chen Shi examined one of them, a thunderous roar suddenly exploded in his mind, and he vaguely seemed to hear the whisper of a divinity.
The language was obscure and unintelligible, extremely awkward, impossible for a human tongue to produce.
Yet Chen Shi somehow understood it. If translated, it would be: "Yang essence illuminates the spirit, yin ghosts shall wane. Divine Vermilion radiates fiercely, light reveals the Supreme Subtlety. Seven qi form the Dipper, three qi form the Platform. Hundred evils all extinguished, myriad ghosts submit and shatter."
Clusters of thunder light seemed to explode inside his body, rolling through his limbs and bones. His physical body and primal spirit both trembled!
Chen Shi was utterly astonished. He immediately looked at the second rune, and the divine whisper in his mind changed again.
"Round light of the Supreme Ultimate, inching divine merit. Five elements' righteous qi, rotating endlessly. Origin of the Primordial Chaos, transporting the scenery to success. Assisting the Dao's might, commanding thunder to drive wind, all qi unified."
Thunder formed a Taiji pattern inside his body, refining his true qi and purifying his qi and blood. Then, five elements righteous qi was born within him, strengthening his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.
He exhaled with a shout, thunder light bursting from his mouth, nearly blasting the study apart!
Chen Shi hurriedly circulated his qi and blood to protect the books in the study, lest they be reduced to powder by the thunder light from his mouth.
His heart pounded wildly. Just now, merely reciting the divine words had refined away much of the阴沉 qi inside him!
This body, this primal spirit, was gradually approaching pure yang!
Pure yang physical body and pure yang primal spirit—that was clearly an achievement only possible after cutting the three corpses in the Three Corpses Realm!
Chen Shi looked at the third rune, and the divine whisper in his mind rolled like thunder. "Ten extremes all connected, guarding the three origins, flying through the void. Decapitating evil demons, driving tigers and dragons. Evil thoughts eternally severed, swiftly achieving the Dao's merit."
As Chen Shi circulated with the aid of the thunderous incantation, he suddenly felt his body become incredibly light. With a thought, a massive cracking sound echoed through the study. A fierce gale arose, sending books and papers flying everywhere.
Blackie Pot hurriedly lifted its head, only to see that Chen Shi had vanished!
The study doors and windows had been smashed open with a huge hole. One window along with a door had flown ten zhang away onto the roof of another household!
The other door was embedded in the opposite wall! "Crack!"
In the Chen family courtyard, the rockery suddenly tilted and collapsed. A paulownia tree in the yard was struck by lightning, split in half from the middle, its heartwood ignited by thunderfire, crackling as it burned.
In the small fish pond in the courtyard, all the prized koi that Chen Tang had painstakingly raised floated belly-up, clearly struck by lightning.
Several maids had hair standing out like porcupine quills, their neatly pinned coiffures exploded in all directions, wisps of black smoke trailing from their mouths.
Blackie Pot rushed out of the study and looked up, seeing Chen Shi standing in the sky a hundred zhang away, thunder light flashing under his feet.
He stood in midair as if on solid ground.
Suddenly, another crack, and Chen Shi appeared almost like a flash in the Chen family courtyard, electric light crackling wildly from under his feet.
The maids hurriedly scattered in all directions. The koi in the pond suffered a few more lightning strikes, and the scent of fish soup wafted from the pool.
Chen Shi stood呆呆 in place, then suddenly shouted and rushed back into the study.
The study was a mess, papers everywhere. Chen Shi quickly rummaged through and finally found the paper with the deciphered runes, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the fourth rune.
This rune was more complex. Chen Shi pondered it for a moment, and a divine incantation exploded in his mind, even more profound.
"Azure thunder, crimson qi, penetrating the nine palaces. Crimson thunder, yellow qi, wielding thunder in the center. Yellow thunder, white qi, ascending to the highest vault. White thunder, black qi, descending to the northern Fengdu. Black thunder, azure qi, filling the void. The fire realm of the entire heavens, blazing fierce winds." His body formed the fire realm of the entire heavens, the five innate qi of azure, crimson, yellow, white, and black circulating endlessly in refinement. However, beyond that, there were no other effects.
Chen Shi was puzzled. The first three runes each had distinct divine effects: the first refined body and spirit with thunder, the second elevated to pure yang with thunder, the third controlled thunder for flight. Yet the fourth was even more profound, but its purpose unknown.
"It seems like another refinement art, but I don't know what it's refining." Chen Shi steadied his mind before considering another question.
"Where did the runes on this paper come from? Could it be that my dad came back, saw how diligently I was studying and didn't want to wake me, so he drew four runes to guide me? But Chen Tang probably doesn't have that kind of insight, right?"
Chen Shi's spirits lifted. "Could Grandpa have returned from the netherworld? Eunuch Liu's notes have Grandpa's rune annotations, but those were from when Grandpa was an official. Grandpa's understanding must be even more profound now!"
He examined the handwriting on the paper. The new runes were more concise, containing even more exquisite Dao arts, but the handwriting wasn't Chen Yindu's—and it was elegant and graceful.
Chen Shi suspiciously turned his head to look at Blackie Pot, who was lying on the ground pretending to sleep.
"Blackie Pot, it was you, wasn't it?"
Chen Shi pounced over, shouting,
"It was you who turned into a woman to repay me, right? I knew it was you! Good brother, turn into a woman again and let me see!"
Blackie Pot leaped up and fled in panic.
"Right, Blackie Pot's male. How could it turn into a woman?"
Chen Shi blinked, thinking to himself, "Could we have a snail girl living in our house?"
His heart stirred as he recalled the blood-clothed woman he had saved in the Immortal Bridge Blessed Land. He hurriedly entered the little temple, where the woman was still lying unconscious on the Divine Shrine. But at some point, her bloodied clothes had turned into white robes.
Chen Shi looked at Matron Shiji and quietly pointed at the white-clothed woman. Matron Shiji kept her eyes on her nose and nose to her heart, as if in meditation.
Chen Shi approached the white-clothed female immortal, standing a bit farther away, and gently poked her shoulder.
No reaction.
Chen Shi poked her twice more. The white-clothed female immortal slowly opened her eyes, still curled up lying in the Divine Shrine, her dark eyes fixed on him.
"Miss, you're awake?" Chen Shi said joyfully.
The white-clothed female immortal nodded quietly and elegantly. Chen Shi asked,
"What's your name, miss?"
The white-clothed female immortal lay there, her brows slightly furrowed as she tried hard to recall, but after half a day, she couldn't remember anything.
Chen Shi's heart sank. He probed carefully,
"Can you speak?"
The white-clothed female immortal opened her mouth but could only struggle for half a day before producing a sound: "Ah-ba ah-ba..." She was extremely distressed, tears glistening in her eyes.
"Could she have been brained by the rock I threw?" Chen Shi thought guiltily.
At that time, he had comprehended the Three Transformations of Ghosts and Gods, awakening from his daze without knowing the situation. Thinking the woman was gravely injured, he intended to let her reincarnate on the Immortal Bridge, so he had smashed her head hard with a big rock.
Chen Shi asked,
"Do you remember how you got injured like this?" The white-clothed female immortal shook her head.
Chen Shi breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, "Good that she doesn't remember. I addled her brains; I can't just ignore her."
He went to the temple entrance, picked some spirit herbs, and offered them to the white-clothed female immortal, gesturing for her to consume them.
"Ah-ba ah-ba." Chen Shi mimed eating to show her how, then suddenly realized, "She understands my words!"
"Eat this, and you'll get better," Chen Shi said. The white-clothed female immortal sat up and ate the spirit herbs he had picked.
Chen Shi watched her closely. After a moment, he asked,
"Feeling better?" The white-clothed female immortal shook her head: "Ah-ba."
Chen Shi was troubled and turned to Matron Shiji.
"Niangniang, do you know how to treat this soul-loss condition?"
"I don't know," Matron Shiji replied stiffly.
Chen Shi had no choice but to say,
"Come out with me. I'll take you to see an imperial physician. Xijing has plenty of good doctors."
The white-clothed female immortal shook her head and stayed lying on the Divine Shrine, her hands propping up her cheeks, seeming more comfortable there.
Chen Shi let her be.
"Rest first then, heal your injuries properly. You were badly hurt—someone smashed your head and addled your brains... Um, when I found you, you were already seriously injured."
The white-clothed female immortal curled up in the Divine Shrine, listening quietly as he spoke.
Chen Shi exited the little temple with a wistful sigh. He glanced at the paper in his hand, thinking, "Could these four runes have been drawn by her?"
He couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head. That poor girl, whom he had bashed silly—could she still draw things like this?
Blackie Pot ran back, looked at its young master, and hesitated as if wanting to speak. If it told the truth, it would probably get done in by the female immortal, right?
Blackie Pot thought it over and decided to pretend it had been dreaming then and knew nothing.
"What's happened to my house?"
Chen Tang's furious voice came from outside.
"What's happened to my house? Divine punishment? My rockery! My paulownia tree! My fish!"
Chen Shi unthinkingly stuffed the paper and Eunuch Liu's notes into his bosom and slipped outside.
Blackie Pot hung its head low and hurried after him.
"My study!"
Chen Tang's trembling voice followed.
"The rare ancient books I painstakingly collected over more than ten years! I was only gone half a day..."
Chen Shi quickened his pace and bolted outside. Behind him came Chen Tang's enraged shout:
"You unfilial son, you're dead! Don't think you can run—"
Chen Shi panicked and dashed out, yelling,
"Blackie Pot, save me!"
Blackie Pot sighed. A gust of阴风 howled, sweeping one man and one dog into the netherworld.
Chen Shi jumped onto the rapidly enlarging dog back. Blackie Pot bolted wildly, with lightning and thunder flashing behind them. The furious Chen Tang tore through the boundary between yin and yang, thrusting his massive head from the yang world, looking around and shouting,
"Unfilial son, today you'll learn what filial piety means!" "Blackie Pot, run faster!"
Chen Shi spurred the dog on, and they fled in a panic.
In the netherworld, before that enormous black iron pillar, Zhuang Wuji—with the help of over ten thousand Heavenly Listeners—activated rune after rune on the colossal object's surface one by one. The divine light radiating from this treasure pierced heaven and earth, wisps of its power leaking out and destabilizing the netherworld's skies.
Suddenly, Zhuang Wuji's expression changed slightly. With a wah, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
The runes on the iron pillar's surface rapidly dimmed. Backlash surged, and in an instant, Heavenly Listeners exploded one after another with bangs, turning into clouds of blood mist!
In a mere moment, most of the Heavenly Listeners were dead, finally absorbing the backlash. Lord Guangxiao was also shaken, his body swaying slightly, but ignoring his own safety, he rushed forward to support Zhuang Wuji.
"I'm fine."
Zhuang Wuji raised a hand to stop him and gazed at the incredibly thick black iron pillar, looking up. He could only see it piercing into the gray netherworld sky, with no end in sight.
"I still underestimated this treasure and wasn't prepared enough. My parsing of the runes on its surface wasn't complete enough."
Zhuang Wuji turned and flew toward the outer heavens, his voice carrying back,
"Rest for a few more days, summon more Heavenly Listeners and Venerable Kings and Lords, then collect this treasure!"
Lord Guangxiao assented and led the surviving Heavenly Listeners away.
Not long after they left, Chen Shi—fleeing Chen Tang's pursuit—arrived here.
"Zhuang Wuji and Lord Guangxiao aren't here?"
He paused slightly, calling out to Blackie Pot.
"My dad stopped chasing. No need to flee anymore."
Blackie Pot stopped.
Thunder light arose under Chen Shi's feet. With a flash of thunder, he arrived beside the massive iron pillar.
The pillar was inscribed with all sorts of extremely complex patterns, twisted and carved like coiling dragons and snakes.
Chen Shi stepped on bolts of thunder light, ascending higher and higher. Suddenly, he spotted a familiar textual rune that perfectly matched the fourth new rune on that paper! With a stir in his heart, as if compelled by a ghost, he reached out and pressed his hand against the pitch-black colossal pillar.
His internal fire realm of the entire heavens suddenly spread out. The five innate qi transformed into five thunders shaking, flying out from the fire realm of the entire heavens like five multicolored great dragons. They injected into the textual runes on the iron pillar, climbing and roaring along the indentations, extending in all directions! "Whoosh!"
In an instant, all the textual runes on the iron pillar's surface lit up, brilliant radiance piercing straight to the clouds and beyond the heavens!
Chen Shi was dazzled by the divine light and couldn't open his eyes. Suddenly, the dazzling divine light vanished completely, and a black iron staff appeared before him, quietly floating in midair.
Zhuang Wuji had just flown out of the netherworld when he sensed the netherworld's heavens shaking violently. He hurriedly looked back and felt his limbs turn ice-cold.
The world was a vast expanse of white. That eternally enduring colossal pillar had vanished without a trace!