Chapter 383
Chapter 383
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 384
Chapter Title: Sooner or Later on the Wall
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Chen Shi asked the escort,
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"May I bring someone else to the Upper Realm?"
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The Yang-surnamed escort replied, "Young Master Lake gave prior instructions. If the top scholar asks whether he can bring someone, then allow him to bring one person."
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Chen Shi raised an eyebrow and gave a half-smile.
"One person. Does Yang Bi know who I intend to bring?"
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The Yang-surnamed escort said, "Young Master Lake said that the person the top scholar wishes to bring must be former Assistant Minister of Revenue, Lord Chen Tang."
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Chen Shi said with keen interest, "Did Yang Bi tell you the reason for his guess?"
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The Yang-surnamed escort shook his head.
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Chen Shi pondered for a moment before telling Chen Tang about it. Chen Tang said, "I know the reason for his guess. He believes this because, among everyone around you, I possess the strongest cultivation and the most meticulous mind. At the same time, I know of the Upper Realm's might and have a sense of proportion. Therefore, if you wish to bring someone to the Upper Realm, you would certainly choose me."
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Chen Shi asked in confusion, "How do you know about the Upper Realm?"
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The Upper Realm was evidently the Thirteen Families' greatest asset. Chen Shi had only learned of it because Yang Bi had told him. Logically speaking, Chen Tang should not know of the Upper Realm.
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Chen Tang hesitated for a moment before saying, "Use my eyes as your eyes, and behold the Upper Realm."
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He relaxed his mind, allowing a strand of Chen Shi's consciousness to enter his own.
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The father and son stood together. Chen Tang slowly turned his head, and dazzling divine light filled their vision—towering gods a thousand zhang tall, filling Chen Shi's sight,
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nearly stopping his heart.
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Grand cauldrons, incense, and the gods feasting on the incense assaulted him with overwhelming pressure!
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Chen Tang turned his head back, and the vision vanished.
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The Upper Realm had revealed its magnificent side to him alone through some strange method, forming immense pressure.
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This scene was equivalent to nearly two thousand gods looming behind him, staring at him and monitoring his every move. This pressure was enough to break anyone!
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These past days, Chen Tang had borne the Upper Realm's pressure. His persistence without collapse demonstrated an indestructible Dao heart.
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Yet under such scrutiny and oppression, advancing his cultivation was nearly impossible!
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The Thirteen Families sought to both intimidate Chen Tang and cripple him, trapping him at the Returning to Void Realm and preventing breakthrough to the Great Ascension Realm.
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Chen Shi withdrew his consciousness.
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Chen Tang's expression remained steady as ever. "I've only endured it for half a year. When your grandfather left the Western Capital back then, he also witnessed these things. He endured under the gaze of those gods for eleven years."
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Though he harbored many grievances against his old father, he deeply felt the terror of Chen Yindu.
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To persist for eleven years under the Upper Realm's oppression without collapsing—this Dao heart commanded his genuine admiration.
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Chen Shi fell silent for a moment before saying, "The Thirteen Families treated you this way, so why didn't you tell me earlier?"
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Chen Tang shook his head. "Your grandfather never mentioned facing such terrifying threats. He didn't tell me, so naturally I didn't wish to tell you. But now that you're going to the Upper Realm, I'm worried you might act without restraint, so I wanted to warn you in advance. The Thirteen Families possess the power to suppress you."
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Chen Shi nodded lightly. "Chen Tang, come with me."
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Chen Tang snorted, displeased at being addressed by his own name, but he followed anyway. He saw Chen Shi heading into Qianyang Mountain.
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Qianyang Mountain was peaceful and serene, with few evils about. Even those evils that appeared behaved themselves.
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Along the way, the father and son offered incense to the spirits of Qianyang Mountain. Their current cultivation far surpassed most spirits in the mountain. Only existences like the great serpent Xuan Shan and Granny Zhuang surpassed them. They had no real need to offer incense to these mountain spirits still growing in power.
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Yet they still followed the customs of their childhood.
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The spirits bowed in thanks to them, absorbing the incense qi from these two powerhouses.
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Chen Shi brought Chen Tang to Wuwang City.
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Lord Wuwang's judge's brush and Tongue-Ripping Hell had previously been hunted by the underworld. Now that the Thirteen Families had pacified the Ten Kings of Hell, even without this branch of judge's brush and Tongue-Ripping Hell, it was no great loss. Moreover, with Qianyang Mountain now a rebel stronghold, the underworld was unwilling to attack for the time being. Thus, Lord Wuwang had returned to Qianyang Mountain.
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At this moment, caravans bustled in Wuwang City—caravans from Juxian Tower transporting goods from the yang world through Wuwang City to the underworld, exchanging them in Tianchi Ghost Kingdom for ghostly goods, then hauling them back to the yang world for sale.
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Wuwang City had become a nexus connecting the yin and yang realms.
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The father and son passed through Wuwang City and entered the underworld. Chen Tang surveyed his surroundings and thought to himself, "Wuwang City connects the yin and yang realms. Clearly, the Tongue-Ripping Hell connects the two realms, meaning yin and yang are beginning to merge. Could it really be that the underworld and yang world will combine?"
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Chen Shi led him along Juxian Tower's caravan to the underworld outpost of Qianyang Mountain—that broken bridge.
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The father and son crossed the broken bridge and stood at its head.
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Chen Shi said, "Chen Tang, turn around."
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Chen Tang turned, and his mind reeled.
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He saw the corpses of heavenly gods hanging on Immeasurable Cliff, row upon row, stretching endlessly!
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Those heavenly gods were mighty, their auras terrifying, their presences awe-inspiring. Yet now they were pierced through and nailed to the sheer cliff face, like a display of dominance, like a shock to the soul!
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Their divine blood flowed from their bodies, dripping down the cliff wall to form an ever-flowing blood stream at the base of Immeasurable Cliff!
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At that moment, a skeletal figure wearing a crown approached, arriving at the bridge head before leaping down to the blood stream. It gathered divine blood to cultivate the Blood Lake True Scripture, its Blood Lake Hell spanning over a hundred li behind its skull, radiating immense pressure.
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This sight shocked Chen Tang beyond measure.
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The nearly two thousand heavenly gods of the Thirteen Families' Upper Realm paled in comparison to the countless god corpses hanging on Immeasurable Cliff!
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"Dad, there's no need to keep some things bottled up inside."
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Chen Shi placed a hand on Chen Tang's shoulder and said, "What seems like an insurmountable chasm to you might be nothing to me. Stay here a few more days, and when you look upon the Thirteen Families' host of gods again, you'll find them unremarkable."
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Chen Tang took a long breath and stepped down from the broken bridge to the blood stream. He said to the skeletal figure, "Fellow Daoist, pardon the intrusion."
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The skeletal figure replied, "Dad, it's me. No need for that. This is Tianchi Kingdom—you're the Supreme Emperor. You needn't lower yourself before anyone."
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Chen Tang:
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.......
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He truly sat down before Immeasurable Cliff, observing the endless god corpses.
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The Thirteen Families' Upper Realm had brought him incomparable pressure, placing him in a desperate situation of constant surveillance and oppression, his life and death in enemy hands. Yet now, that pressure and despair faded bit by bit, replaced by an utterly steady mind-set—unperturbed even if the sky fell, arrogant, unyielding, defiant, forever unsubmissive.
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He suddenly understood the source of Chen Shi's lawless mentality.
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Because he now shared it.
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Disregarding authority, disregarding the vast gap in power between foe and friend.
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You're mighty? So what? Sooner or later, you'll hang on the wall.
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After several days, Chen Tang's mentality recovered to its peak, returning to the mindset of the Assistant Minister of Revenue in the Western Capital. Confidence shone in his eyes—not servile, not arrogant—strategizing from behind the curtain.
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He returned to the yang world and Huangpo Village. Chen Shi was accompanying his mother, Witch Qingyu, in cultivation. Seeing him return, Chen Shi looked him up and down before slowly nodding. "For a while there, you were just Chen Tang. Now you're my dad. You won't shame the Chen family when we go to the Upper Realm together."
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Chen Tang drew his Xuanwei Sword to execute the insolent son, but Witch Qingyu hurriedly intervened. "If the son is undisciplined, it's the father's fault. We never taught him—it was your father who did. Grandpa dotes on his grandson, and raising a child like this is already an accomplishment. For our flesh and blood's sake, spare him."
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Chen Tang sheathed his sword and huffed, "You always take his side. Sooner or later, he'll stir up big trouble outside! I'll pack up and go to the Upper Realm with him!"
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Chen Shi brought the white-clothed female immortal to meet the Yang-surnamed escort. "We're setting off."
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The Yang-surnamed escort said in surprise, "You're not bringing Minister Chen?"
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Chen Shi shook his head. "I don't like others guessing my intentions, so I changed my mind."
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The Yang-surnamed escort gave him a strange look and shook his head inwardly. "The most stable emotionally and strongest in cultivation under him is his own father.
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Instead of bringing his father, he brings a frail, delicate woman. Selfish, endangering himself for the sake of pride—foolish. Is this man truly Young Master Lake's rival?"
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He prepared the carriage and invited Chen Shi and the white-clothed female immortal aboard.
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The carriage was a grand Qingyun palanquin, larger than ordinary ones, with four pillars and four blue panels painted with maps of rivers and mountains. The roof was a Qingyun canopy topped with three radiant pearls. It was pulled by three dragon-horse hybrid beasts called long.
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Chen Shi and the white-clothed female immortal entered the treasure. Lush green mountains surrounded them. Looking up, they saw drifting azure clouds and three suns hanging in the sky, their light bright but not scorching.
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Such a treasure was already a spirit treasure of the highest order—far beyond what ordinary families could afford.
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The treasure palanquin activated. Chen Shi looked outside, as if vast worlds and stars wheeled by. The dragon breeds pulled them roaming through the void—
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utterly wondrous.
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Chen Shi sighed in admiration. "The foundations of the great families are truly extraordinary."
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By the time Chen Tang finished packing and chased after, the Qingyun grand palanquin had already vanished into the void, beyond pursuit!
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Chen Tang flew into a rage. "You brat! Not bringing me but that woman of unknown origins—who will protect you fully in the Upper Realm?!"
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Witch Qingyu saw him return and asked in confusion, "Didn't you go with him?"
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Chen Tang recounted how Chen Shi had taken the white-clothed female immortal to the Upper Realm. "He didn't bring me but took the mute girl instead. He's likely in grave danger there! You spoiled our son!"
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Witch Qingyu said, "It was his grandfather who raised him—you can't blame me. But Little Eleven is always calculating. Not bringing you but the mute girl must be part of his plan."
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As she spoke, she saw Niangniang Shiji on the yellow earth slope, offering incense to Chen Shi's stele godmother. Clearly, Chen Shi hadn't brought her either.
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Witch Qingyu's heart stirred. "A-Tang, are you certain you're the strongest among us?"
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Chen Tang's expression remained unchanged. "Certain. Among the five ruffians and one grandmaster Father befriended, Uncle Du Yiran has the highest cultivation, Brother Qiao Zhuo the best aptitude, and Aunt Qiongyang the purest thunder arts. Those three are already at the Great Ascension Realm, but in a life-or-death fight, they'd fall to me. Even together, they wouldn't last three exchanges. Granny Sha might contend with me in the underworld and disrupt me, but she couldn't block five moves. Uncle Qingyang is deceased, Uncle Hu timid—nothing to worry about. Only Huo Dou might match me in a decisive battle."
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Witch Qingyu asked puzzledly, "Then why does Little Ten think you're not the strongest?"
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Chen Tang's heart stirred. "You mean the mute girl is the strongest?"
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He couldn't help but feel bewildered. "If she's stronger than me, who could she be? Surely not another of Father's paramours? No, no—she clearly favors Little Ten, not like a generational affection—"
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The white-clothed female immortal of Western Capital's Qixia Temple had always been a legend, sealed and suppressed by the True King. Apart from the Thirteen Families' records of her appearance, few had seen her true face.
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During the great examination of the metropolitan review, the white-clothed female immortal had just broken free of her seal when the Thirteen Cabinet Ministers mobilized the True King's Nine Palaces to grievously wound her. Chen Tang had never seen her face, only knowing that some prehistoric calamity had emerged from suppression, causing chaos—but he never realized that calamity was right beside Chen Shi.
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Inside the grand Qingyun palanquin, the white-clothed female immortal yawned and lay down on Chen Shi's lap to sleep.
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Chen Shi felt a twinge of tension. He sensed his lower corpse god Peng swelling stronger and thought, "After this clash with Yang Bi, I'll find an opportunity to slay Peng, lest it keeps stirring my monkey mind and hindering my cultivation!"
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The white-clothed female immortal cracked one eye open to sneak a peek at him. Seeing Chen Shi look over, she quickly shut it, a blush flying across her fair face. Chen Shi's heart rippled with unfamiliar feelings. He warned himself inwardly, "I must advance, achieve greater heights—I need to eliminate Peng Pa soon! It keeps inciting me to feel for this girl——she smells so good—
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At that moment, boundless divine light shone in, piercing the verdant mountains of the Qingyun grand palanquin. The azure clouds and three great suns revealed their true forms—the embroidered clouds and three pearls atop the treasure. Chen Shi reined in his stray thoughts, pushed open the window, and looked out to see vast, majestic mountains and rivers filling his view. Peaks rose and fell, stars gathered in the sky to form a galactic river flowing grandly.
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Towering gods sat or stood, floating amid clouds or appearing in the starry river. Their bodies were immense, wreathed in divine light, with clusters of azure incense clouds drifting around them.
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Before them, enormous incense burners released curling incense qi, joined by streams from the lower realms, transforming into cloud qi and drifting ribbons behind their heads and under their arms, gradually forming extraordinary power that merged into the gods' bodies.
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The Qingyun grand palanquin flew past an incomparably majestic god. Chen Shi looked up at the god's face, just as the god looked down.
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Their gazes met, and Chen Shi immediately felt the god's immense divine might and incomparable pressure.
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This god had absorbed thousands of years of incense, its divine power vast and boundless, even rivaling the great serpent Xuan Shan.
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It had no flesh body, reforged in extraordinary power as a golden body, with strange patterns on its form—likely complex talismans formed during the reforging!
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"Merely dry bones at home." Chen Shi withdrew his gaze and gently stroked the hair of the beauty on his knee.