Chapter 394
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 395
Chapter Title: The Day the Sun Went Out
Yang Bi had gathered a great deal of information on Chen Shi, including numerous accounts of him seemingly employing a Divine Embryo.
There were records stating that Chen Shi's Divine Embryo was suspected to be a stone statue of a big-headed woman named Shi Ji.
Other accounts claimed his Divine Embryo might be the Great Serpent Xuan Mountain. Some had even seen his Divine Embryo as a black dog.
In further records, Chen Shi's Divine Embryo took on all sorts of bizarre forms—various evils, even the villagers' godmother.
His Divine Embryo was not fixed, but if one factored in the Divine Embryo, Chen Shi's strength was likely far superior to his own.
Yang Bi even suspected that Chen Shi could possess three Divine Embryos at once!
In this confrontation with Chen Shi, he had imposed restrictions, allowing Chen Shi to bring only one person to the Upper Realm, precisely to limit Chen Shi's power. He hadn't expected Chen Shi to bring only the fairy from Qixia Temple, leaving everyone else behind.
In their clash this time, Chen Shi hadn't used any Divine Embryo at all.
Without using a Divine Embryo, they had ended in a draw, which left him feeling somewhat frustrated.
"Perhaps Chen Shi is right. We cultivators must rely on our own power for all greatness."
Yang Bi turned back to gaze at the Upper Realm, where towering, majestic deities stood amid the mountains, upholding this heaven and earth. The Thirteen Families had prepared for so long to resist Despair Slope and overthrow the True God, but their power was too scattered. Without a nimble mind to coordinate them, the Thirteen Families were nothing but loose sand.
Coordinating this immense force required him to divide his attention.
Without that distraction, his cultivation would likely have approached that of the ancestors.
"But Chen Shi, there's one thing you haven't considered: the Great Vehicle Realm is the pinnacle for every cultivator."
He murmured, "No one can take that step to merge with the Dao and become an immortal. Even if I devoted myself entirely to cultivation, I'd merely give the Thirteen Families another Great Vehicle expert—nothing would change."
Huangpo Village. Chen Tang kept glancing back over his shoulder.
At that moment, he saw the heavenly gods withdraw their gazes. His heart skipped two beats. "The battle's over! Did Dun win or lose?"
If Chen Shi had won, would the Upper Realm leave such a threat behind?
If he lost, would Chen Shi perish under his opponent's spells and divine abilities?
He fretted anxiously. Just then, the heavenly gods vanished from his sight.
Chen Tang held his breath, looked back again—the heavenly gods were gone.
His heart sank. He could no longer see the Upper Realm!
The powerhouses in the Upper Realm must have sealed it off from him.
"Little Ten, are you alive or dead?" he wondered silently.
For the next dozen days, he continued as usual, occasionally glancing back even though he couldn't see the Upper Realm.
He wasn't doing it out of habit or self-consolation. He just didn't want Wu Qingyu to notice anything amiss.
He knew his wife was sharp and would surely detect something, growing suspicious. For now, he could only hope to delay it day by day.
On the fourteenth day, three flood dragons pulled a grand Qingyun carriage to a halt outside Huangpo Village.
Wu Qingyu passed by Chen Tang and whispered, "Husband, you don't need to pretend anymore."
Chen Tang started slightly and hurried after her, thinking, "Was I that obvious?"
The couple approached. Chen Shi stepped down from the grand carriage and smiled upon seeing them.
Chen Tang and Wu Qingyu both breathed a sigh of relief.
Chen Tang kept a straight face. "How did the battle go?"
Chen Shi replied, "Yang Bi is a dragon among men. At the same realm, his cultivation and strength rival mine—truly astonishing."
Chen Tang nodded. "So you mustn't underestimate the heroes of the world."
Chen Shi laughed. "I've only met one so far. The rest are mediocre nobodies."
Chen Tang felt exasperated. "Haven't you just met this Yang Bi? Who knows, you might encounter a second Yang Bi, a third, in the future."
Chen Shi shrugged it off. "We'll deal with them when they come. Until then, the rest are mediocre nobodies."
Chen Tang itched to draw the Xuanwei Sword and teach the brat a lesson about the heights of heaven and earth, but he knew that even at the same realm, he wouldn't beat his son. So he could only imagine it.
"How was the Upper Realm?" he asked instead.
"Every heavenly god there is no weaker than the Great Serpent Xuan Mountain. The mightiest rival Lord Qianyang of Qianyang Mountain, their divine power like an ocean—profound and unfathomable. The ancestors of the Thirteen Families possess immortal might, merging Dao with heaven and earth, their power boundless."
Chen Shi paused, then stated firmly, "The Upper Realm is riddled with fatal flaws. Against Despair Slope, it will surely fall. Six thousand years of preparation, all destroyed by the enemy—no doubt about it."
Chen Tang's heart stirred. "Is it really that bad?"
Chen Shi said, "The only hope now is some hidden force in the Upper Realm."
His eyes flickered. "I suspect that among the ancestors of the Thirteen Families, beyond the thirteen patriarchs, there are second and third ancestors still alive. For instance, the Li family's signature arts are divided into two volumes: the Yian Hall Collection for the main lineage, and the Nancheng Zongyi Collection for the branches. The Nancheng Zongyi Collection was created by the Li family's second ancestor—encyclopedic, barely inferior to the first. But I didn't see the Li second ancestor in the Upper Realm."
Chen Tang's eyes lit up. "If every great family has second and third ancestors alive, that's dozens of immortal-level beings. Add the underworld and Upper Realm's Great Vehicle ghosts and gods, and victory over Despair Slope isn't impossible! Little Ten, you're overthinking it. They know Despair Slope far better than you."
Chen Shi hesitated. "I hope so. Dad, we'd best prepare for the Thirteen Families' downfall anyway."
North Chen Tang gave him a deep look, thinking, "Does my son plan to retrieve the Western King Jade Seal from the wooden cart after the Thirteen Families fall and claim the throne?"
He mulled it over. It seemed feasible!
Just then, Blackie Pot's barks rang out. Chen Tang puzzled, "Nightfall again so soon? While you were in the Upper Realm, it came early once already."
Chen Shi looked up at the sky, where it was gradually turning red—the sun trailing fire, flames afloat, blanketing West Ox Fresh Continent.
"Nightfall's come early twice recently?" Chen Shi asked.
Chen Tang nodded.
Night fell swiftly.
Under the bright moonlight, Chen Shi lay beneath the old willow on the yellow earth slope, gazing at the moon beyond the sky, lost in thought.
Blackie Pot lay beside him.
This night was extraordinarily long.
Chen Shi had slept once, but upon waking, it was still night, so he'd come to the yellow earth slope.
"Scholar Zhu, do you know how the True King Era ended?" Chen Shi sat up suddenly and asked.
Scholar Zhu hung from the crooked-neck willow, his body straightened, swaying in the wind. "How would I know? I've only been dead a little over a thousand years. When I died, the True King Era had ended five thousand years prior."
Chen Shi paused. "I've seen the True King's true body. There's gold thread on his neck—master craftsmen sewed his head back onto the corpse. He didn't die naturally; his head was severed."
Scholar Zhu hung motionless from the tree, unmoving even in the wind, silent.
Chen Shi probed carefully. "Do you think... the True King was murdered by the Thirteen Families? Their patriarchs caught him off guard, killed him quietly, then erased all history of the True King Era."
Scholar Zhu didn't respond.
Chen Shi continued, "I'm not guessing without basis. The True King sealed immortals, slaying all who sought to merge Dao and ascend. The Thirteen Families' patriarchs served as Grand Secretaries, surely aiding him. They killed the disobedient ones. But they too were on the verge of merging Dao. After purging the world's half-immortals, he'd turn on them. So they struck first—"
Scholar Zhu interrupted. "The True King didn't die by their hands."
Chen Shi's eyes gleamed. "Then he killed himself! The True King sealed all immortals in the world, but his own cultivation reached an extreme height, forcing him to merge Dao and ascend. Fearing harm to the world, he took his own life! Before dying, he burned all records of that era, ensuring no one could rediscover the path to immortality! Thus, no immortals, no calamities!"
Scholar Zhu shook his head. "The True King didn't commit suicide either. Stop guessing wildly!"
Chen Shi grew excited. "I got it! After eliminating other half-immortals, the True King himself ascended. He faced tribulation, flew up, merged Dao! He turned into an evil, underwent evil transformation, became a calamity—then was slain! It must be!"
"Woof! Woof!" Blackie Pot barked excitedly.
Scholar Zhu couldn't hold back anymore. He pushed off the noose with both hands, floating lightly to the ground, fuming. "It's not like that at all! Our ancestor's death was due to the same event that happened back then as is happening now!"
Seeing him finally descend from the crooked-neck willow, Chen Shi relaxed and smiled. "Teacher, you're finally down. So what happened back then?"
Scholar Zhu snorted. His arms elongated beyond his body, untying the noose from the tree.
He looped it around his neck. "I'm hanged here; I can't leave easily. Only with this rope around my neck can I move freely. Follow me."
He floated up, flying through the air, the noose trailing behind like a braid.
Chen Shi and Blackie Pot followed. Scholar Zhu drifted toward the Tomb of the True King.
Chen Shi called, "Wait, Scholar Zhu! I'll fetch the Western King Jade Seal!"
"No need." Scholar Zhu's voice came back.
Chen Shi had no choice but to follow. Man, ghost, and dog soon reached the Tomb of the True King.
The stone statues outside the tomb stood sentinel, awe-inspiring. Step inside, and the Ghost God Domain would activate; the statues would revive as divine beasts, tearing intruders apart.
Strangely, as Scholar Zhu entered the Ghost God Domain, the divine beasts bowed low upon seeing him, leaving him unharmed.
Chen Shi thought, "Scholar Zhu truly is a descendant of the True King. He must have come here before, even entered the tomb, to pass down those techniques to my father."
He followed Scholar Zhu. A goat-horned, human-bodied tomb guardian raised an oil lamp in salute. Scholar Zhu said, "Give me the lamp. No need to guide us."
The guardian assented, handing over the oil lamp.
Scholar Zhu held the lamp aloft as Chen Shi and Blackie Pot followed him through the stele forest into the tomb.
They traversed a long, dim corridor, delving deep into the mausoleum.
Though Chen Shi had entered the Tomb of the True King twice, he'd never explored inside and had no idea what lay within.
Scholar Zhu led them to a side chamber. It was small, filled with jars, pots, vats, and urns—funerary goods that didn't look like treasures, probably just grain storage vessels.
Scholar Zhu scooped a handful of rice from a clay vat. "You, pinch these."
Chen Shi pinched the grains, frowning slightly.
Scholar Zhu asked, "What do you notice?"
Chen Shi answered honestly, "These rice grains are empty."
Scholar Zhu lifted the lid off another large vat. "Look at the rice in here."
Chen Shi stepped forward, grabbed a handful—very light. He pinched them, frowning again. These were empty husks too, no kernels inside.
A trace of fear in his voice, Scholar Zhu said, "This is a side chamber for the True King's funerary offerings. These vessels should hold the five grains—rice, millet, and such. But at the end of the True King Era, the rice had no kernels."
Chen Shi set down the husks, digging deeper into the vat—all husks!
He went to another large vat, grabbed rice—husks again!
He checked the other urns, pots, vats, and jars one by one. Sorted by grain type, but none held true grains!
The True King's funerary offerings had no real five grains—only husks!
"Even the True King was like this—"
Chen Shi's blood ran cold; he shivered repeatedly.
If even the True King was like this, what of ordinary folk?
Did ordinary folk have any way to survive?
"What caused it?" Chen Shi's voice was hoarse.
"Perhaps at the end of the True King Era, there was no sun." Scholar Zhu's voice was flat.
"No sun?"
Chen Shi shivered again. Without the sun, crops couldn't grow; even rice wouldn't form kernels!
And now, days grew shorter, nights longer.
Chen Shi's throat bobbed with difficulty. "What did they eat?"
Scholar Zhu fell silent, then said, "I don't know."
"How long did it last?"
"I don't know."
"How many died?"
"I don't know."
Chaos filled Chen Shi's mind. When he came to, he was back on the yellow earth slope.
Scholar Zhu hung once more from the crooked-neck tree, noose securely tied.
Blackie Pot lay at his feet, sighing deeply, brow furrowed in worry.
Chen Shi stood. The moon still hung in the sky, while Huangpo Village folk were rising to cook breakfast.
"What time is it?"
Panic gripped Chen Shi. He shouted, "Why hasn't the sun risen?"
His voice carried to Huangpo Village. The villagers looked up at the sky, baffled.
Yes, why hadn't the sun appeared?
Moonlight gleamed bright.
The moon seemed poised to hang forever, never setting.
"Ah Tang, it's already midday." Wu Qingyu whispered behind Chen Tang.
Chen Tang stared at the moon. His voice was muffled. "I know. The sun hasn't risen."
Chen Shi too gazed upward.
In Gangzi Village, Sha Qiutong tilted her head, watching the moon.
Far off in Qianyang Mountain, the Great Serpent Xuan Mountain coiled atop the peak, its great head toward the sky's moon.
Amid the mountains, spirits and images stood motionless, eyes on the sky.
Midday came—the sun still absent.
Villages stirred with unrest, anxiety spreading.
By midnight, still no sun.
Next morning, the moon dimmed. Two red suns appeared, gradually brightening.
Chen Shi clenched his fists, knuckles white.
"I must go to the Upper Realm again!"