Chapter 329
Chapter 329
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Translator: Ace
Chapter:
Chapter Title: The Disguised Judges
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Chen Shi returned to the underworld and hurried toward the place where the stone stele stood, together with Blackie Pot.
"Blackie Pot, Grandpa Du said the Five Great Villains but left himself out. Yet Uncle A Zhuo and Granny Sha always mention Grandpa Du as the eldest and first among the Five Great Villains."
"Woof!" Blackie Pot said.
Chen Shi laughed. "You're right. I think they're all just trying to exclude themselves, so they only admit to five and never six. They each have their own reasons. But come to think of it, my grandfather has never spoken of any Five Great Villains or Six Great Villains."
"He doesn't consider them villains."
"Woof woof!"
"Nonsense, Grandpa isn't a villain!"
Chen Shi corrected him, but then frowned. "But that said, no matter how the lineup of the Five Great Villains changes in what Grandpa Du and the others say, my grandfather is always included. Grandpa's reputation has been dragged down by them."
They arrived at the place where the stone stele towered and searched everywhere, but they couldn't find the three judges—Pursuing Soul, Sin Karma, and Knife Mountain.
Chen Shi was surprised in his heart. "Have they already left?"
He went to look for that stone stele that hadn't taken effect yet, but the stele was also nowhere to be seen.
"The stele was engraved with Yan Shizong's birth and death dates, but the time has passed. Will it still work?"
Chen Shi wondered to himself.
He really wanted to take this ineffective stele and find that great expert in the Return to Void Realm named Yan Shizong, to see if the tombstone had truly killed him or if he was still alive.
Chen Shi left and returned to Immortal Capital.
He went back to Chen Yindu's Yuan Chen Palace, activated the sealing talisman, and entered the palace. He saw the Boat Lady's true body still sitting there, completely motionless. He thought to himself, "Strange, where has the Boat Lady gone? Why haven't I seen her at all?"
At that moment, there was a knock at the door from outside.
"Could it be Grandpa's neighbor?"
He got up to open the door and saw three little imps standing outside: one ox-head imp, one horse-face imp, and one little yaksha.
The three imps were each carrying a bucket filled with odds and ends and dry rations.
They wore small round hats. Two tender horns poked out from the ox-head imp's hat, ears from the little yaksha's, and the horse-face imp had long ears pressed under his hat, with only the fuzzy tips poking out on both sides.
"We're not soliciting work."
Chen Shi was about to close the door when the ox-head imp hurriedly said, "Benefactor, it's us! I am Pursuing Soul Judge Wang Fu, Horse-Face is Sin Karma Judge Jia Yuan, and Little Yaksha is Knife Mountain Judge Zhu Shun."
Chen Shi quickly invited the three inside and asked in surprise, "How did you find this place?"
Sin Karma Judge Jia Yuan laughed. "After you left, we felt it wasn't safe to stay put, so we immediately packed up the stele and departed. To be honest, as Sin Karma Judge, I checked your karma in advance, which allowed me to track you here."
Chen Shi understood and grew a bit curious. "I've been kind to others since childhood, so I shouldn't have much karma. For Judge Jia to find me here is truly impressive."
Wang Fu and Zhu Shun looked odd and coughed twice, glancing to the sides.
Jia Yuan smiled. "There are many people in the world, but each has unique karma. By identifying it, we can locate them. When we arrived in Immortal Capital, your karma shone like a torch in the night, guiding our way."
Chen Shi got the hint and didn't pursue the matter of his karma any further.
"Why have you turned into this appearance?" Chen Shi asked, puzzled.
"Our positions are sensitive, so we can't use our true forms. We usually disguise ourselves as little yakshas to mingle in Immortal Capital and gather information. There are countless little imps here, making it easy to hide."
The three bowed in unison. "If not for you and the other benefactor risking your lives to save us, we three would likely have been captured and thrown into prison."
Chen Shi returned the courtesy and smiled. "I just happened to be there by chance."
Zhu Shun stepped forward and took out the stone stele.
In Engraver Du Yiran's hands, the stele had been enormous, towering like a mountain. Now, it was the size of an ordinary one.
Chen Shi examined the inscription, confirming it was indeed Yan Shizong's tombstone. Delighted, he stored it in his little temple. The three judges saw the small temple behind his head and each showed shock, exchanging glances.
Jia Yuan steadied himself and said, "Young friend, may we enter your little temple to take a look?"
Chen Shi smiled. "Why not?"
The three judges were about to enter when Jia Yuan suddenly said, "I didn't bring any incense! Do you have any?"
Wang Fu and Zhu Shun shook their heads. "We've always had others offer incense to us—who carries any?"
Chen Shi was surprised and laughed. "No incense is needed to enter my little temple."
The three judges shook their heads. Zhu Shun said solemnly, "Though we have divine thrones, we must show respect."
"Three stubbornheads." Chen Shi shook his head and took out a bundle of incense for them.
Each judge drew three sticks, lit them, and held them reverently in both hands.
The incense smoke wafted gently, twisting and turning in the air as it drifted toward the little temple.
The three judges stepped forward. With each step, their figures shrank smaller and smaller, treading on a path formed by the incense smoke, walking toward the little temple behind Chen Shi's head as if on a pilgrimage!
In the underworld, judges held high positions, second only to Merit Officials and the Ten Yama Kings.
—Of course, the underworld also had some powerful existences above the Yama Kings, though they weren't part of the underworld bureaucracy.
It was rare to see three judges so utterly respectful.
Jia Yuan, Wang Fu, and Zhu Shun carried their incense into the little temple and came before the divine shrines. They saw Stone Reef Lady and the white-clothed immortal maiden seated in two of them, and their expressions changed slightly.
Wang Fu's eyebrows shot up as if to scold the two and make them get off the shrines.
Jia Yuan saw his eyebrows and knew he was about to flare up. He hurriedly kicked him and whispered, "Don't stir trouble."
They came before the central shrine and saw Chen Shi's primal spirit seated right there on it.
The three judges were stunned, feeling the incense in their hands grow scorching hot, nearly dropping it.
Jia Yuan steadied himself and said, "This is the lady's temple. Never mind who's on the shrines—we're worshiping the lady!"
The three held their incense and bowed three times to Chen Shi's primal spirit before inserting it into the incense burner before the shrine.
These three were judges appointed by the Ten Yama Kings of the True King era, with immense divine power. After three bows, clouds swirled in the little temple, and the structure shook continuously.
Wang Fu's face changed. "Little benefactor won't be bowed to death by us, will he? Ordinary folk can't withstand even one bow from us!"
Jia Yuan and Zhu Shun also grew uneasy and hurriedly flew out of the little temple. They saw Chen Shi standing there perfectly fine, but the little temple behind his head was shaking nonstop and... growing!
Behind this little temple, another temple had appeared!
Chen Shi couldn't see behind his own head. Seeing the three judges gaping in shock, he quickly summoned his primal spirit to look back and was dumbfounded too.
The little temple had grown another little temple!
The newly added temple was hazy and indistinct, as if veiled in mist.
What in the world was going on?
Chen Shi sent his primal spirit flying into the new little temple. He found this new structure unsteady, with a heavy sandy texture, as if it might collapse at any moment.
His original little temple had been the same when it first appeared—blurry and unclear.
This new temple also had a divine shrine.
"Four shrines! Doesn't that mean I can have four Divine Embryos?" Chen Shi thought. "If I save more ghost gods and have them offer incense to the little temple, couldn't the second temple grow a second shrine, a third?"
He felt a bit regretful. Where would he find so many ghost gods to save?
Besides, he didn't have that ability. Saving these three judges had relied heavily on Engraver Du Yiran; otherwise, even Chen Shi and Blackie Pot would have perished in the underworld.
"Could the three lords tell me what exactly happened in the underworld?" Chen Shi asked.
Jia Yuan sighed. "After the True King era ended, the underworld was governed by the bureaucracy and remained relatively peaceful. Even when underworld demon gods occasionally escaped to the yang world, they caused little destruction."
"Until fourteen hundred years ago, when a sudden upheaval occurred."
"Over these thousands of years, the Thirteen Families had built considerable power in the underworld."
Wang Fu said, "The Thirteen Families have some influence in the yang world too, but nothing compared to the underworld! In the yang world, at most four or five generations, limited by lifespan—when their time comes, they die. Even with many experts, they can't accumulate much power. But in the underworld, they've amassed the power of hundreds of generations!"
Chen Shi's heart stirred. "You mean the ancestors and successive sect masters of the Thirteen Families survive in the underworld as primal spirits?"
Zhu Shun nodded. "Not just ancestors and sect masters—countless experts in Body Fusion, Soul Refining, Return to Void, and other realms besides."
"In the past, they hadn't accumulated enough time to challenge the Ten Yama Kings."
"But five thousand years after the True King era ended, they had gathered enough power to overturn the underworld."
Wang Fu said, "During the True King era, the Thirteen Families already existed as massive clans."
"The underworld has many of their forebears—founding ancestors from the True King era."
"Though dead, their strength is unfathomable."
Jia Yuan said, "The underworld has the Ten Yama Kings: Qin Guang Wang of Xuanming Palace, Chu Jiang Wang of Puming Palace, Song Diwang of Zhoujue Palace, Wu Guanwang of Taihe Palace, Yanluo Wang of Jiulun Palace, Bian Chengwang of Mingchen Palace, Tai Shanwang of Shenghua Palace, Du Shi Wang of Bizhen Palace, Pingdeng Wang of Qifei Palace, and Luntai Wang of Suying Palace."
"Over these fourteen hundred years, all Ten Yama Kings have fallen."
"Besides the Ten Yama Kings, there were twenty-one judges."
Zhu Shun said, "Pursuing Soul, Supervising Life, Examining Plunder, Sin Karma, Judging Punishment, Chief Sin, Receiving Life, Receiving Documents, Knife Mountain, Sword Tree, Recording Death, Executing Opposition, Recording Birth, Recording Fortune, Recording Illness, Recording Rank, Recording Good, Debt of Killing, Calamity Warden, Releasing Life, Five Paths. Now, probably only us three remain."
Wang Fu's face darkened. "The bureaucracy painstakingly built during the True King era has completely changed."
The three judges were utterly despondent.
Chen Shi suddenly smiled. "I know where Lord Qingtian is."
The three judges' eyes lit up with excitement.
"Yama is still alive?" Wang Fu was thrilled. "Where is the lord hiding?"
Chen Shi smiled. "Lord Qingtian has reincarnated. When I go home, I'll take you to see her."
"I think Lord Qingtian has already set up various measures. She sent out the Book of Life and Death and told you to leave the bureaucracy early and hide your tracks—to preserve strength for a comeback."
"You needn't worry so much."
Tears welled in the three judges' eyes. Jia Yuan murmured, "As long as Lord Qingtian lives, there's hope to turn things around! I thought the lord had already..."
Chen Shi smiled. "I have urgent matters these next few days and can't go back yet. Stay here for now. Find any room you like."
The three hurriedly thanked him and carried their buckets off to find rooms.
Chen Yindu's Yuan Chen Palace had countless pavilions and towers, all burned by Chen Shi, Chen Tang, and Chen Wu. Let alone three little imps—thousands could stay without issue.
Chen Shi's eyes flickered. "With three judges plus Blackie Pot, could we break someone out of prison? Maybe tonight..."
Just as the thought crossed his mind, he saw the three judges carrying water buckets, sweeping rooms, cleaning courtyards, and trimming flowers.
Chen Shi quickly said, "Three lords, leave that to the maids!"
Wang Fu shook his head. "We've posed as little imps for years and are used to it. Idling makes us restless."
Chen Shi was speechless and let them be.
"Three lords, how did the True King era perish?"
Chen Shi asked. "I heard the True King era was extremely prosperous. In the yang world, deities from华夏 Divine Continent stood across the fifty provinces of West Ox New Continent, suppressing all demonic changes and silencing the hordes."
"In the underworld, the Ten Yama Kings and eighteen levels of hell restrained the ghost gods."
"The cultivators of that time were immensely powerful, able to reach Tribulation Transcendence Realm or even Ascension Realm!"
His voice trembled with excitement. "Such a flourishing True King era—why did it collapse? Why were records of it destroyed? Why was contact with华夏 Divine Continent severed?"
He couldn't help blurting out question after question, hoping the three judges would resolve all his doubts.
Jia Yuan set down his rag. "We didn't experience the True King era's fall firsthand, so we're not clear on the details."
"The True King worried yang world mortals would wield power, interfere in the underworld, control reincarnation, and create a world where the strong grew ever stronger and the weak went extinct. Thus, he separated yin and yang, strictly forbidding passage."
"Only talisman masters cultivating soul arts were allowed to cross between realms."
"But later, countless died, and we learned a calamity of unprecedented scale had struck the yang world."
"An apocalypse-level calamity."
Zhu Shun said.
Chen Shi's heart shook violently. At the end of the True King era, an apocalypse-level calamity had occurred?
Hundred-li demonic change, thousand-li disaster, ten-thousand-li apocalypse!
This calamity's scale covered at least ten thousand li, engulfing a vast swath of West Ox New Continent!
Wang Fu said, "It's said to be an immortal apocalypse."
Chen Shi asked, "What is an immortal apocalypse?"
"It's when immortals undergo apocalyptic change."
Jia Yuan stared blankly for a moment before saying, "By then, many peerless geniuses had cultivated to Ascension Realm, just half a step from becoming immortals."
"Others unearthed prehistoric relics containing sealed prehistoric aberrant immortals."
"It might have been a genius under True King Mo ascending that triggered the immortal apocalypse, or an aberrant immortal emerging. We don't know the exact cause."
Chen Shi was stunned and suddenly cried out, "How could a cultivator's ascension trigger an immortal-apocalypse-level calamity?"
Jia Yuan glanced at him and waited for him to calm before saying, "Do you think this heaven and earth are normal? Can one truly ascend normally after reaching Ascension Realm?"