Chapter 330
Chapter 330
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: [Unspecified]
Chapter Title: Secrets of the True King Era
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The words of Judge Jia Yuan of Sins and Karma delivered a tremendous shock to Chen Shi.
West Niu New Continent—this land—was truly abnormal?
In fact, he had noticed it long ago.
Very early on, he had discovered that the sun and moon in West Niu New Continent were somewhat strange, vastly different from those in the little temple.
In the little temple, the sun rose in the east and set in the west, the moon waxed and waned with phases—it did not hang eternally in the sky, nor was there an enormous face behind the sun and moon.
More crucially, the righteous qi of heaven and earth emanating from the sun and moon in the little temple contained no maddening evil or demonic nature that drove people insane, nor any bizarre power that turned them into malign spirits.
On the contrary, the righteous qi from the sun, moon, and stars could refine away evil and demonic natures!
Yet in West Niu New Continent, cultivators who absorbed too much moonlight were likely to go mad, or even transform into malign spirits!
Even someone like his grandpa, Chen Yindu, would succumb to a surge of demonic nature under the moonlight and was forced to hide in the underworld.
And even stranger, the cultivation methods recorded in the Tomb of the True King followed a system that differed greatly from the prevailing cultivation systems in West Niu New Continent today!
The system in the Tomb of the True King was: Qi Refining, Foundation Building, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Incarnation, Body Integration, Three Corpses, Spirit Refining, Return to Void, Great Ascension, Tribulation Transcendence, Ascension.
The current cultivation system was: Qi Refining, Foundation Building, Divine Shrine, Divine Embryo, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Divine Transformation, God Descent, Void Refining, Body Integration, Three Corpses, Spirit Refining, Return to Void, Great Ascension.
The Tomb of the True King system lacked Divine Shrine, Divine Embryo, God Descent, and Void Refining—four realms—while the current system lacked Tribulation Transcendence and Ascension—two realms.
Though Chen Shi possessed a Divine Shrine, he had no Divine Embryo, equivalent to missing that realm. And now, having cultivated to the Divine Transformation Realm, if he refined his six-zhang primordial spirit and advanced to the next realm, he could not achieve God Descent or Void Refining.
In other words, he would be missing those three realms!
Yet he currently felt his cultivation path was perfectly normal, progressing smoothly without hindrance!
He even felt that he could smoothly and normally break through to Body Integration Realm without God Descent or Void Refining!
But that very fact was far too abnormal!
Chen Shi pondered for a moment before saying,
"Judge Jia, do you mean that when reaching Great Ascension Realm and ascending, one turns into a malign spirit?
An immortal turning into a malign spirit?"
Jia Yuan hesitated before replying,
"In the True King era, I was merely the Governor of Congtian Prefecture, a third-rank official—not one of that era's most powerful beings.
The information I could access wasn't extensive, and I never cultivated to the Ascension Realm..."
Wang Fu had been Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review in the True King era, while Zhu Shun had been Patrol of Xixiang—both fourth-rank officials.
They had entered the underworld after dying from their own accumulated merits, becoming judges.
But in the阳间, they were not the pinnacle experts under the True King.
The era's top experts were concentrated in the imperial court, the Thirteen Great Families, and the sacred lands of Buddhism and Daoism.
Some things, Jia Yuan and the others simply could not access.
Chen Shi asked,
"Then what do you all know?"
Jia Yuan said,
"In the True King era, they excavated quite a few prehistoric anomalous immortals from remnants of prehistory.
According to the court experts' speculations at the time, these prehistoric cultivators had already reached the Dao Integration level, but for unknown reasons, upon being unearthed and seeing the light of day again, they either rapidly aged and died or underwent malignant transformation."
Zhu Shun said,
"The True King gathered cultivators from across the land to forge and cast nine palace halls, called the Nine Palaces of the True King, precisely to suppress the malignant transformations of these anomalous immortals.
In the few millennia of my lifetime, malignant transformations occurred over a dozen times—not many.
After my death, I have no idea."
Wang Fu said,
"The Nine Palaces of the True King could suppress anomalous immortals' malignant transformations in the early stages, but once it reached the mid or late stages, they could no longer do so.
At that point, the anomalous immortals fully transformed into malign spirits of immense power.
Thus, they had to be eliminated as quickly as possible."
Jia Yuan said,
"So we speculate that the True King era was likely destroyed by a malignant transformation of anomalous immortals.
However, during my lifetime, there was also a rumor that if someone underwent tribulation transcendence and ascended, they too would suffer malignant transformation and fiendification at the moment of ascension!
This rumor caused widespread panic.
As Governor of Congtian Prefecture, I was even ordered to investigate its source to see which demon was spreading seditious lies."
Zhu Shun said in surprise,
"I heard that rumor in Xixiang too!
Brother Jia, did you trace the source?"
Jia Yuan said,
"Yes, it turned out to be Heavenly Listeners spreading the rumor."
Chen Shi couldn't help saying,
"The True King era had Heavenly Listeners too?"
"Yes."
The three judges replied as if it were the most natural thing.
Chen Shi pressed,
"How did the Heavenly Listeners come about?"
Jia Yuan said,
"From Despair Slope."
Chen Shi asked,
"How did Despair Slope come about? What's in Despair Slope?"
The three shook their heads.
They hadn't accessed things at that level during life, and after death, they were even less privy to such knowledge.
"Get back to work."
Chen Shi waved his hand absentmindedly.
"Right away, boss!"
Wang Fu clutched his little round hat and said with a fawning smile,
"About that daily wage... Pfft, I thought I was working for some other ghost family! We can't take Benefactor's money!"
Chen Shi's gaze followed the three little ghosts as they moved. He saw them diligently sweeping and cleaning everywhere, even tossing the scrapped girls and old ladies out of the courtyard.
—Some paper effigies, incompletely burned and missing limbs, were discarded.
The scrapped girls and old ladies wailed and struggled, unwilling to leave, but the three little ghosts showed no mercy.
Once tossed out, they hit the ground and turned to drifting ash, ceasing to exist.
They existed only by virtue of Yuan Chen Palace; away from it, they reverted to their true form—mere handfuls of ash.
"The downfall of the True King era holds far too many unsolved mysteries."
Chen Shi composed himself, sorted his jumbled thoughts, and activated the Firmament Emperor Scripture, focusing on cultivation.
Other cultivators could not practice in the underworld, but he was the exception. Though the underworld teemed with ghosts and monsters, brimmed with malign entities, and its yin energy damaged cultivation, he possessed the little temple, allowing him to constantly draw Three Lights Righteous Qi from华夏 God Continent for practice.
Behind Chen Shi's head materialized nine layers of heaven, each standing at the eight poles, the nine firmaments arrayed across the sky in dazzling splendor.
Chen Yindu's Yuan Chen Palace was enormous, spanning over ten li in circumference. Viewed from above, its interior was often impossible to discern, so cultivating here posed no risk of shocking the world.
Chen Shi had now reached the Divine Transformation Realm, his cultivation growing ever more profound, his primordial spirit mighty—especially the ninth layer of heaven in the Firmament Emperor Scripture, which spanned ten mu in size, extraordinarily impressive.
Should the nine layers descend, they could form a ninefold primordial spirit force field, nine layers of protection, exceedingly hard to breach.
His primordial spirit now measured two zhang, a significant advance from his time in West Capital. Seated in the Divine Shrine of the little temple regulating yin and yang, his cultivation steadily advanced.
Such cultivation in the阳间 would make him a top-tier expert in a local county, a major figure overseeing a province—but in the underworld, where ghosts and gods abounded, his status was likely only slightly above that of a little yaksha.
The underworld teemed with ghost gods, and primordial spirits were common.
Still, it was too slow.
Chen Shi thought to himself.
Wang Fu passed by him carrying a wooden bucket, chattering nonstop.
Suddenly—whoosh—the ox-headed little ghost vanished, the bucket and rag dropping to the ground.
Wang Fu sat dazed on a Divine Shrine, surrounded by a temple. The temple was small, no more than three zhang long and two zhang wide, sparsely furnished with only the shrine and pillars.
The temple exuded a crude, sandy texture, as if it might collapse at any moment.
But at that instant, a surge of majestic righteous qi coursed through his body, endless and boundless. Wang Fu traced its source to the sky above the little temple.
He looked up, and brilliant sunlight dazzled him, shining down from above—light from another time-space.
"I'm in Benefactor's little temple?"
He thought to himself.
"Has Benefactor made me into a Divine Embryo?"
He did not resist, instead sitting obediently in the shrine and actively aiding Chen Shi's cultivation.
With his strength, he could easily stand and leave, but as a ghost god who repaid kindness, helping his benefactor was only right.
Moreover, this was no ordinary temple.
"Huh!"
He was utterly astonished. As he assisted Chen Shi's cultivation, he felt his own divine power refining and condensing!
"What's going on?"
As a deity, he had possessed formidable cultivation in life, but after death without a fleshly body, he could only borrow incense power to sculpt a golden body for himself.
Incense cultivation hinged on the golden body; with continuous incense, it could grow immensely powerful, godlike.
Yet incense contained the杂念 of the masses' mortal thoughts. When common folk offered incense, their minds dwelled on personal desires: bountiful harvests and fine weather, virtuous wives, healthy heirs, wealth—streams of杂念 converging.
Incense could empower deities, but they also had to fulfill the people's wishes. Once wishes were granted, the incense power lost its杂念.
Not all wishes could be fulfilled, however, so incense power was rife with impurities.
Now, seated in Chen Shi's Divine Shrine, Wang Fu felt the various杂念 in the incense power steadily vanishing!
He involuntarily manifested his true form, sensing his golden body grow purer.
Unwittingly, night fell. Chen Shi awoke from meditation and released Wang Fu, feeling his primordial spirit replete and his spirit vigorous.
Wang Fu shone with brilliant divine light, utterly pure. Sensing his own道行 had advanced substantially, he was filled with shock and delight.
Jia Yuan and Zhu Shun approached, looking up at him in stunned amazement.
"Brother Wang, how has your cultivation become so refined?"
Jia Yuan said.
"We thought Benefactor dragged you off for cultivation and that you'd suffered—who knew your gains would be so astonishing! What happened?"
Wang Fu recounted his experience in Chen Shi's little temple. The two judges were stunned, then turned expectant gazes toward Chen Shi.
The horse-faced little ghost and little yaksha deliberately paced before Chen Shi, hoping to be pulled in for a boost, but Chen Shi remained unmoved and did not act.
"Why hasn't he grabbed us for the blessing too?" The two judges fretted inwardly.
Just then, a knock came from outside. Blackie Pot opened the door to find Chen Shi's three corpse gods standing there, all smiles.
Peng Jiao grinned.
"Master, come out quick—time for wine, women, and song!"
The three little ghosts' faces darkened.
Peng Jiao was about to say more when a brilliant golden hand suddenly reached from the door, seizing its neck and dragging it into Yuan Chen Palace.
Peng Zhui and Peng Ju turned to flee, but two more golden hands shot out, capturing the two corpse gods and yanking them back!
The Three-Foot God dropped to its knees with a thud, trembling like chaff, gazing in terror at the three little ghosts before it.
Chen Shi's three corpse gods were exceedingly powerful. Before, they could casually slay such little ghosts, but now these three emanated vast, boundless divine power, filling them with dread.
Chen Shi said sternly,
"Now that the three corpse gods have found this place, the ghost gods under Young Master Wei Yue will soon follow.
These ghost gods are still surveilling Yuan Chen Palace and haven't had time to report to Young Master Wei Yue yet! The three of you—tonight I must rescue my mother. The three corpse gods would only cause chaos. Can you contain them?"
"Simple enough!"
Wang Fu pointed, and three golden cords flew out, binding the three corpse gods tightly.
"I am the Soul-Chasing Judge; binding corpse gods with god-binding cords is effortless."
Chen Shi bowed.
"The ghost gods under Young Master haven't reported back yet. Tonight may be my last chance to save my mother! Chen Shi beseeches your aid!"
The three judges returned the courtesy.
"Repaying kindness is only natural—what need for formalities? Benefactor, go save her. We'll handle the rest!"
Chen Shi straightened, called Blackie Pot, and prepared to leave. Glancing back at Boat Granny's fleshly body, he frowned slightly.
"Boat Granny still hasn't returned... Can't wait for her!"
He opened the door and strode out of Chen Yindu's Yuan Chen Palace with Blackie Pot following, heading straight for the young master's Yuan Chen Palace along the heavenly street.
The heavenly street brimmed with ghosts and monsters, bustling with revelry. Countless three corpse gods led their masters out for carousing, merrymaking; others slunk furtively off to the underworld to file complaints, hastening their masters' deaths.
The sky teemed with carriages and mounts hurtling about, crashing into each other; ghosts and spirits tumbled, souls scattering in all directions.
Chen Shi and Blackie Pot wove swiftly through the throng, accelerating. Immediately, two ghost gods burst from alleys on left and right, pursuing them.
The two ghost gods towered several zhang tall. They had barely moved when an ox-headed little ghost and horse-faced little ghost charged from behind with buckets. Sacrificing the wooden buckets, the ghost gods had no time to react before their bodies deflated and shrank rapidly, sucked into the buckets.
Chen Shi and Blackie Pot leaped into the air, darting through Immortal Capital's streets. Several more ghost gods took flight in pursuit.
One green-faced, fanged ghost god shouted,
"Plague Ghost, Chill Ghost—you two go ahead and notify Young Master!"
Plague Ghost and Chill Ghost sped up in response—only to meet two little ghosts flying straight at them. Two rags flew out, instantly expanding into a grand heavenly canopy that descended and scooped, trapping the two ghost gods.
The green-faced, fanged ghost god was alarmed and turned to flee, only to find a little yaksha behind it, flashing a slight smile and forming a subduing ghost seal with its palm.
The little yaksha was pitifully small, but once the seal formed, the ghost god felt the other tower ten thousand zhang tall, immensely majestic!
The little yaksha's palm descended.
A palm-sized green-faced cloth doll.
The ghost god transformed into the doll, which the little yaksha tied to its waist before bounding away like lightning, vanishing into the ghost throng.
Chen Shi and Blackie Pot soon reached the young master's Yuan Chen Palace, circling to the side and slipping into the darkness behind it.
Only one heavenly street led into the darkness, glowing faintly. The darkness flanking it concealed untold阴差 and ghosts!
Chen Shi drew a long breath and stepped onto the dark heavenly street, advancing with Blackie Pot.
Silence reigned around them, devoid of sound.
The clamor of Immortal Capital faded; only Chen Shi and Blackie Pot's footsteps echoed, faint yet growing ever more jarring.
They drew nearer to that Yuan Chen Palace, reaching the street's midpoint.
Then, in the darkness to the left, a pair of幽幽 eyes ignited, like two flickering flames.
"Blackie Pot, I'm counting on you for this fight."
Chen Shi drew his Heaven-Spanning Iron Ruler and said softly.
Blackie Pot stood behind him and shook fiercely, its body swelling larger and larger as clumps of infernal fire ignited.
Whoosh—
On both sides of the heavenly street, amid the darkness, pairs of eyes lit up!
"Criminal Chen Shi, we've been waiting for you a long time!"