Chapter 316
Chapter 316
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Assault on the Post Road
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The wooden carriage rumbled along, heading toward the Western Capital.
The road bustled with carriages shuttling to and from the Western Capital, along with people on fine steeds galloping at full speed.
Chen Shi sat inside the carriage. After a moment's thought, he said,
"Blackie Pot, fetch those volumes of ghost books for me to look at."
Blackie Pot opened its mouth. A roll of ghost book flew out.
Chen Shi opened the ghost book. With a single glance, the characters began crawling and writhing, twisting and shifting. At the same time, strange voices whispered in his ears, like ghosts and gods murmuring at his side.
Yin winds swirled around them. The sky grew dim and overcast.
The wooden carriage traveled the post road to the Western Capital. The road teemed with traffic, but in that instant, everyone else vanished, leaving only them.
Chen Shi closed the book. The sky cleared to normal. The ghostly whispers faded from his ears. The clamor of voices returned to the post road. Carriages approaching from ahead nearly smashed into the wooden carriage. The coachman swerved in haste.
Riders galloped wildly on horseback, nearly colliding with the wooden carriage as well.
The wooden carriage brushed past the throng of carriages and swift steeds. The other coachmen flailed in panic, poking their heads out one by one to shout greetings at Chen Shi:
"Go reincarnate soon!"
Chen Shi apologized profusely. In his heart, he marveled,
"Was I just pulled into another time and space by the ghost book?"
"Blackie Pot, open one yourself."
Blackie Pot produced another roll of ghost book and flipped it open to read. Nothing unusual happened around them.
Chen Shi opened the ghost book once more. The same phenomenon repeated itself, with阴 winds howling fiercely.
He closed the book. Everything returned to normal around them.
Chen Shi frowned faintly. His original goal had been to decipher the ghost book's contents, help Blackie Pot comprehend them, and speed up its cultivation. But the ghost book was profoundly strange, as if endowed with a unique power to bar others from reading it. Only certain individuals could peruse it.
"Ancient tales speak of Cangjie inventing writing, upon which ghosts and gods wept tears of blood. Why did the ghosts and gods weep after Cangjie created characters? Scholar Zhu said it was because writing emerged, exposing creation's secrets and stripping ghosts and monsters of their ability to hide their forms. With writing, humans could depict the mysteries of ghosts and gods, passing cultivation knowledge down generations and threatening ghostly dominion. Thus, ghosts and gods shed blood tears, lamenting their lost power."
Chen Shi pondered.
"So ghost books must be tomes where ghosts and gods record their dao arts... Wherever Blackie Pot passes, everyone in range is affected. This power resembles a Ghost God Domain. Could the dao arts recorded by ghosts and gods be the Ghost God Domain itself? If so, then comprehending the three ghostly transformations from the Eight Trigrams means I've grasped ghostly dao arts! Which means such things can be recorded and inherited!"
His spirits soared.
"Blackie Pot, how do you cultivate on a normal day?"
Blackie Pot ran ahead of the carriage. Hearing this, it halted and looked at him quizzically.
"Woof?"
"Confirmed!"
Chen Shi nodded vigorously.
Blackie Pot sat down, legs crossed, front paws resting on its chest. Its eyes hovered half-open, half-shut. Body as seed, heaven and earth as furnace, it resonated with the natural world.
The dog gradually floated into the air. As the wooden carriage rolled onward, it drifted alongside.
Its field of aura expanded ever wider. Wherever it went, the veil between yin and yang blurred. Chen Shi looked down. The wooden carriage seemed to glide on a flawless transparent plane. Beneath lay the nine springs of the netherworld!
In that moment, the wooden carriage and all travelers on the post road strode through the netherworld's skies. Even its mountains and rivers were visible!
Those with keener sight could make out the ghosts and monsters clearly.
The wooden carriage pressed forward. Blackie Pot floated ahead. Travelers on the post road entered its Ghost God Domain and exited it, utterly unaware.
To them, all seemed perfectly normal.
"Blackie Pot's domain is one of obfuscation, clouding perceptions, deluding minds. Even the boundary between yin and yang fades!"
Shock dawned on Chen Shi's face. He had thought Blackie Pot's domain merely warped cognition. Now it appeared this Ghost God Domain was far more dreadful!
"No wonder those boatman father and daughter—true ghost gods—were deceived and tumbled from the yang world into yin! This domain is horrifying!"
Chen Shi composed himself. Blackie Pot's current Ghost God Domain spanned a mere four or five zhang. Beyond that, no effect. Yet the fiend that ambushed the boatmen had watched from the distant dark, twisting their judgment!
Its power surely dwarfed Blackie Pot's.
"I wonder if feeding Blackie Pot more exotic beasts will hasten its growth? Worth trying!"
He mused inwardly,
"Lately, no more drawing its blood casually. Let it build its strength first."
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than big-eared Heavenly Listeners appeared along both sides of the post road. Some flapped ears to hover in the air. Others perched on field ridges, riverbanks, or branches atop roadside graves. All clutched paper and brush, ears cocked to record.
Trees lining the post road sprouted wood-ear-like growths by the dozens—pop, pop.
Big ears sprouted along the river dikes. Even passing carriages grew basin-sized ears. Horses sprouted them rapidly on their flanks!
Chen Shi noticed at once: Blackie Pot's Ghost God Domain shrank violently, oppressed by another bizarre domain!
"Heavenly Hearing attendants and Venerables must be near! Maybe even a King. Otherwise, it couldn't suppress Blackie Pot's domain so effortlessly!"
His heart raced.
"Has Zhuang Wugui learned of my seizing the black iron staff?"
The thought had barely formed when he sensed danger. He turned toward the fields. Rumbling filled the sky. Cannonballs hurtled from dozens of li away, zeroing in on the wooden carriage!
The shells flew at blinding speed, Great Five Thunder Talismans detonating to trail bolts of lightning as they plummeted. In moments, they closed to a dozen zhang from the post road!
"These shells exceed two chi across—Great General Cannons! One blast pierces a Refining Void Realm expert's compound and shatters their soul!"
Chen Shi's eyes pierced the runes on the spherical projectiles. As former overseer of the Guangji Armory, he knew cannons and shells intimately. He judged instantly: if they struck, the post road would become a sea of thunder and pure yang inferno, scouring dozens of mu. None would survive!
Whoosh!
Chen Shi pinched a sword formula and thrust repeatedly. The massive shells burst midair one by one. Thunder and fire cascaded in every direction!
Simultaneously, the canopy atop the wooden carriage soared up. It hovered, spinning wildly, ballooning to several mu across in a blink.
Two thousand four hundred talismans ignited beneath it, manifesting two thousand four hundred divine shades. Divine radiance churned below, near-solid. Beads of light linked in splendor, brilliant as a golden heavenly court unfurling with the canopy!
The deluge of thunderbolts and pure yang flames hammered the canopy. Lightning converged, only to scatter wildly upon impact. Flames flowed like water across its surface, sluicing outward!
The canopy held the blasts at bay beyond the post road. Travelers gaped upward in terror, glimpsing only muffled thunder-fire blooms outside. Beneath reigned perfect calm.
"Traitor Chen, receive death!"
A pale-faced, beardless young eunuch screeched. He lunged at Chen Shi, each step spanning zhang. His form warped swiftly. Buddhist radiance pierced his flesh, birthing a Garuda with human head and bird body—over three zhang tall, wings spanning five zhang six chi. Wings beat, whipping gale-force winds. Invisible wind blades reaped like swift knives. Heads tumbled; limbs flew along the post road!
Yet as the Garuda plunged under the canopy, cold light speared the eunuch's soul field. It lanced the Garuda's brow, then whipped around its neck in a full circuit.
The Garuda stiffened. Flesh crumbled. Soul shattered. Its head dropped, reverting to the small eunuch.
Meanwhile, from crop fields opposite, countless flying swords surged like a churning snow-white wave. Cornfields flattened in their wake!
Ridges and furrows shattered under sword gleam!
"Clang! Clang!"
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
Flying swords slammed into the canopy-shielded space. Though empty air, they struck as if copper walls and iron ramparts, pinned motionless aloft.
Each quivered fiercely—small strokes, furious frequency—yet advanced not a whit.
"Avenge the Young Master!"
From the fields, a green-robed Daoist in a Daoist crown charged. In steps, he vaulted skyward, sprinting midair, accelerating. His soul field unfurled.
Midair, the green-robed Daoist pinched sword fingers double-handed at his chest. He bellowed, thrusting mightily ahead!
His soul rocketed forth like a keen blade, soul field crashing into the thousand-odd flying swords!
Sword fingers leading, arms overhead, body parallel to earth—he hurled himself as sword, soul forged to edge, tragic in valor. He smashed the canopy's bulwark.
The thousand swords surged in his dauntless wake, plunging deep!
Thousand blades, soul, flesh—fused as peerless greatsword. Sching—
It rent the canopy's space. Sword tip blazed keen, halting before the carriage!
Chen Shi, seated, met the colossus with one fist. Swords exploded in crackles. Runes, arcane might—all crumbled! His horrific force rippled to the Daoist's soul field. Fragments of rebounding swords riddled it. The soul holed and venting.
The green-robed Daoist quaked midair. His own shards speared his skull. Thud—he crumpled dead.
"Kill the dog official..."
The words unfinished, his head lolled lifeless.
Chen Shi's other hand flicked repeatedly. Explosions chained across the sky—the Great General Cannons' shells, detonating far off dozens of li away!
Assailants lurked sixty li distant: ten Great General Cannons, seventy-man squad. They gauged winds, aligned sights, rammed powder, loaded shot, lit fuses, swabbed bores, reloaded—seven per gun, flawless sync.
Beyond the seventy stood an armored warrior, cloud-shod aloft, peering sixty li out.
Shells burst serially midsky—not striking, but creeping nearer!
Shells that flew full sixty li to burst now popped after mere li!
"Bad! The traitor Top Scholar is fierce!"
The armored warrior plummeted, roaring. He thrust soul field before his troops!
Sching—
Invisible sword-qi pierced his soul field. Across sixty li, vigor unspent—it rent through, impaling the Great General Cannon behind!
Boom—the cannon erupted. Fire浪 and thunder-storm raged. Its seven guardians perished in the blaze!
Shock and fury gripped the armored warrior. He reared his soul skyward for a distant gaze. Sixty li off, Chen Shi seized the canopy and hurled it whoosh their way! Shrunk to bundled umbrella, it midair beat "wings," morphing golden eagle wings-spanning zhangs, streaking air-borne!
"Blast that eagle from the sky!"
The other nine Great General Cannons swiveled muzzles.
Boom-boom-boom!
Cannon-roar chained. The golden eagle wove up-down-left-right, spun wildly, evading shells. Blink—it loomed over the sixty-four-man squad.
Head-down, wings-beating dive, spin—then wings splayed wide.
Wings flared: eagle became canopy anew. Divine light blotted heavens!
The squad staggered, sucked helplessly skyward, tumbling into the canopy.
The armored warrior, deep in cultivation, fled. His nascent soul barely stirred—roaming dragon sword transfixed it, slaying.
His corpse joined the troops, sucked aloft into the umbrella.
Canopy snapped shut, great umbrella reborn. Blood and shards gushed tidal from within.
Back in the post road carriage, Chen Shi raised a hand. Canopy whirred home. He gripped the haft—spotless, thanks to purification talismans pasted thereon.
The wooden carriage took the canopy, slotting it back atop itself. It rummaged incense from the compartment, lit sticks for self and canopy alike.
"Blackie Pot!"
Chen Shi called. Blackie Pot had ceased cultivation, domain unfurled. It scampered the post road. Travelers swiftly forgot, resuming affairs.
"Were those the Young Master's remnants striking at me?"
Chen Shi frowned faintly, urging the carriage toward the Western Capital. The Heavenly Listeners flapped away, scattering.
Chen Shi eyed them—all veered one direction.
Ten-odd li on, a qilin carriage halted roadside. Zhuang Wugui stood beside, flanked by attendants. He scanned a document, glancing up at passing Chen Shi.
The wooden carriage moved briskly—should outpace Zhuang Wugui and qilin carriage swiftly. Yet after passing, another Zhuang Wugui and qilin carriage loomed ahead.
Passed again—another ahead.
Other travelers flowed normal. Only the wooden carriage's space looped endlessly.
Dao art abyssal, unfathomable!
Chen Shi arched a brow, patted the wooden carriage lightly. It halted.
Chen Shi dismounted, facing Zhuang Wugui. Emotions churned:
"Eleven years past, experts from Despair Slope bore Zhuang Wugui to Xinxian County. Thirteen clans claim no innate dao embryo of mine. Might it reside in Zhuang Wugui?"
Zhuang Wugui thrust the document to a nearby Heavenly Listener and approached.
"Child Scholar, I return to the mountains soon. I came expressly to see you before departing."
Chen Shi's gaze lingered on the scroll.
Zhuang Wugui noted it and smiled.
"Hear my explanation. I've yearned to know if you'd reclaimed the innate dao embryo. You refused to show it, so I devised my own test. Conveniently, the Young Master had retainers deep in his debt, burning to slay you. I tasked the Heavenly Listeners with selecting three.
"First, a platoon leader from Divine Pivot Battalion, versed in the Young Master's Great Five Thunder Heart Technique. Second, an Eastern Depot eunuch lad, master of the Non-Empty Transformation God Mantra. Third, Hall Master of Hundred Refinements Hall, practitioner of Transformation Treasure Truth Art. The Young Master recruited them aptly, imparting suited arts."
He smiled faintly.
"The Divine Pivot platoon leader toyed with thunder-fire and powder, so Great Five Thunder Heart Technique suited. The Eastern Depot eunuch, free of carnal distractions, fit Buddhist arts best—hence Non-Empty Transformation God Mantra. The Hall Master excelled at artifact forging, perfect for Transformation Treasure Truth Art.
"Lowly stations, no clan ties, yet talents shone sans better paths. Tailored teachings bound them in tearful loyalty. No Fuzheng Pavilion elites these, but men of spine, glad to perish avenging the Young Master."
Chen Shi inquired,
"You used these three to probe me—whether I'd regained the innate dao embryo?"
Zhuang Wugui chuckled.
"Precisely."
Chen Shi's face betrayed no emotion.
"Did your test succeed?"
"No. But your display disappointed me."
Disappointment crossed Zhuang Wugui's features. He shook his head.
"Chen Shi, do you not feel yourself unworthy of the innate dao embryo?"