Chapter 578: The Three Pure Ones' Demon-Refining Well

Zhang Xian chuckled and said, "How could someone like me possibly know where beings of that level have gone? Brother Chen, this Regional Commander position was originally meant for you. Unfortunately, an order came down from above, asking me to temporarily assume the post. I tried to decline several times but couldn't get out of it. I hope you won't hold it against me."

He was a True Immortal, yet he treated Chen Shi with utmost courtesy and respect.

Chen Shi smiled and said, "My bet with Yin Fenglou was nothing more than a casual remark, not to be taken seriously. Even if he had lost the battle, he wouldn't have had the authority to decide who became Regional Commander."

Not to mention that Yin Fenglou was already dead.

Hearing this, Zhang Xian breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself, "Chen Shi isn't an unreasonable person. Strange... why was he so determined to kill Yin Fenglou?"

He found it quite puzzling. By all logic, Chen Shi had just ascended and arrived at the Celestial Court as a heavenly soldier, unfamiliar with the place and its people. He shouldn't have come into conflict with a Regional Commander.

Yet Chen Shi had deliberately provoked Yin Fenglou and killed him in public. That in itself was suspicious. But even more suspicious was the fact that Chen Shi had been thrown into the Heavenly Prison and then released!

"He must have a very powerful backer behind him."

Zhang Xian's eyes flickered as he thought, "Most likely, the position of Fire Battalion Regional Commander was reserved for him by that backer, but since he was in prison, it fell to me. I need to be careful not to offend him, or he might just have me killed."

With that thought, he became even more polite toward Chen Shi.

"Legend has it that after the Hao Tian Celestial Court was established, the Celestial Court separated from the Ancestral Land, with immortals and mortals governing separately. The Hao Tian Celestial Court rose into the heavens and carved out the Earth Immortal Realm."

Zhang Xian said, "At that time, the Earth Immortal Realm was still a land of primeval chaos and barbarism. The mysterious yellow sea was still shrouded in darkness. The immortals and the Celestial Court toiled through hardships, reclaiming the darkness, refining away demonic miasma, and gradually the Earth Immortal Realm came to be. The myriad worlds within the mysterious yellow sea were all carved out from that era, places that were originally uninhabitable. Wash Immortal Valley is one of them."

They entered Wash Immortal Valley. Despite the word "valley" in its name, it had almost nothing to do with a valley at all. Rather, it was a basin spanning hundreds of thousands of miles, comparable in size to the Western Ox New Continent.

The basin was surrounded by mountain ranges. Some mountains hung upside down, presumably belonging to immortal sects.

Zhang Xian continued, "Legend has it that this place was originally a land of swamps, filled entirely with water. People thought it was where immortals bathed, so they called it Wash Immortal Valley. But immortals also cultivated from mortals - why would they need such a gigantic bathtub?"

Bai Fangfang asked, "What happened to the water in Wash Immortal Valley?"

"It's said that a high immortal who followed the Three Purities used a single finger to slice through the mountains, and the great waters poured out through the gap."

Zhang Xian pointed toward two great mountains in the distance and said, "Those two mountains were split apart by that high immortal's single strike. They are called the Sword Gate."

Everyone looked over and saw that the mountains were extremely thick and towering, yet they had been split cleanly down the middle, the cut surface perfectly smooth.

"The power of a high immortal is truly extraordinary." Everyone was filled with admiration.

Scattered throughout Wash Immortal Valley were lakes of various sizes, presumably remnants from when the waters had been drained. Chen Shi examined the traces on nearby mountain peaks and discovered many scorch marks and claw marks left by battles, along with traces of sharp weapons. These must have been left behind when the Three Purities were refining demons.

There were mortal kingdoms established within Wash Immortal Valley, with villages and walled towns dotting the landscape. The common people cultivated fertile fields, raised silkworms, wove cloth, and engaged in trade and commerce, just like in the mortal world.

Chen Shi sensed carefully and felt a stir in his heart: "The cultivators here are far inferior to those of the Western Ox New Continent. They don't live up to the name of the Earth Immortal Realm."

The Western Ox New Continent had an enormous number of cultivators. Anyone who reached the age of schooling could be sent to public schools and have the chance to become a cultivator. But Wash Immortal Valley, despite being in the Earth Immortal Realm, still operated under sect governance. If one wished to cultivate, unless they came from a great clan with inherited traditions, they could only join a sect or school to begin their spiritual practice.

Zhang Xian led the group to the capital of the Wash Immortal Kingdom. The ruler hurriedly led the Civil and Military Officials to welcome them, asking, "Why has the celestial envoy come?"

Chen Shi observed the ruler, who was also an immortal with no small skill. He had already reached the Celestial Immortal Realm, possessing profound accumulated cultivation. Among the court's civil and military officials, there were also many who had reached the immortal realm.

Zhang Xian said, "By imperial order, we have come to investigate whether a great demon has emerged in Wash Immortal Valley."

The ruler hesitated for a moment, then said, "There have indeed been some strange occurrences in recent days, though I cannot say whether a great demon has emerged. In Iron Creek Town, the wind howled like a roaring beast for half the night, mixed with the clanking sound of iron chains and thunder and lightning. The people of Iron Creek Town dared not come out to investigate. Only when dawn broke did they go to look, and they found that a massive pit had appeared outside the town, several miles in circumference, of unknown depth."

Zhang Xian's heart stirred. "If you would be so kind, Your Majesty, please lead us there to have a look."

The ruler did not dare refuse. He dismissed the Civil and Military Officials and, accompanied by only a few officials who had cultivated to the Celestial Immortal Realm, personally led the way, flying toward Iron Creek Town.

Chen Shi asked, "Your Majesty, after the pit was discovered, did you send anyone to investigate?"

"We did."

The ruler said, "I... I sent some cultivators, along with my kingdom's Grand Marshal Hong Qiushui to oversee the matter. But they've been gone for several days now and haven't returned."

Iron Creek Town was not too far away. After a little over an hour, they arrived before the great pit outside the town.

The pit was about four miles wide. Peering down, it was dark and deep, with no end in sight.

Dai Qingxi raised a flame, which transformed into a Vermilion Sparrow. Spreading its wings, it soared into the sky before diving down into the earth.

Everyone waited for a moment, watching as the flame sparrow shrank into a tiny point of light, yet it still hadn't reached the bottom of the pit.

"This divine ability of mine is called Sparrow Plume Slash. It can fly out three thousand miles without any loss of power."

Dai Qingxi frowned and said, "This pit is probably far deeper than we imagined."

Zhang Xian said, "To find out what's down there, we have no choice but to go down and look. Fire Battalion, hear my command! Odd-numbered squads, stay behind and prepare for support. Even-numbered squads, follow me down into the pit."

The Fire Battalion had twenty-four squads, fifty men each. The squad that Chen Shi, Black Pot, and the others belonged to was an odd-numbered squad, so they stayed behind for support. - Black Pot also held a heavenly soldier position in the Fire Battalion.

Zhang Xian finished counting the squads, and immediately everyone conjured a sword aura to protect their bodies, then flew down along the pit.

Immortal light radiated from behind their heads, illuminating the walls on all sides. Even after flying out over a thousand miles, their figures remained clearly visible. But as they descended further, they became increasingly blurry. Finally, Zhang Xian and the several hundred heavenly soldiers, like the Sparrow Plume Slash divine ability, grew smaller and smaller until they could no longer be seen.

Those remaining floated in the air, staring nervously into the depths of the pit.

Chen Shi looked around. At that moment, a thick chain over ten miles away caught his eye.

The chain extended from within the mountain, hanging down the cliff face to the ground, with one end buried deep underground. Its full length was unknown.

Not far from Iron Creek Town, some strange and massive building ruins also caught his eye, giving him a familiar feeling.

He looked around and discovered that the mountain containing this chain was not the only one. All around Iron Creek Town, chains could be found in the other peaks as well, and ancient building ruins were always exposed nearby!

These mountains, some tall and some short, some wide and some narrow, some near and some far, stood around Iron Creek Town.

Judging from the direction the chains extended from the mountains, the center of all the chains was the great pit!

Chen Shi flew up and came to the side of a chain. Seeing this, Black Pot quickly followed.

"Black Pot, I've seen chains and buildings like these before, in the Dark Sea."

Chen Shi examined the chain carefully, his eyes flickering as he spoke in a low voice, "Back then, when Godmother and I crossed the sea on the willow-leaf boat to find the mulberry tree, I fought sea monsters along the way. My divine abilities struck deep into the ocean, illuminating the seabed, and I saw thick chains crisscrossing through the sea. Those chains were exactly like this."

There had also been ancient buildings in the sea, built upon those chains. Beyond that, sea monsters stood on the chains as well.

The chains and buildings here were very similar to what he had seen in the sea back then.

Black Pot tugged at the chain. It was buried deep underground, and the buildings were buried deep in the earth as well.

It stood up, revealing its Huo Dog true form, though it kept its demonic miasma and demonic flames restrained. Standing upright on its hind legs, its sinewy body fierce and imposing, it grabbed hold of the chain and heaved with all its might.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

The ground shook. Sections of earth were continually ripped up as the ancient buildings connected to the chain were dragged out by Black Pot's brute force!

And there was more than one building - three additional structures buried underground were also yanked free by Black Pot's unmatched strength.

Chen Shi thought to himself, "Black Pot's physical strength far surpasses mine. No wonder he can wield the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler with such ferocious flair. He probably doesn't plan on returning it to me..."

Black Pot braced itself and pulled the chain backward with all its might, while Chen Shi flew up and followed the chain as it sprang up from beneath the earth. The chain kept tearing through the surface soil, shattering rocks as it went. Chen Shi followed it all the way to the edge of the great pit.

"Whoosh!"

A violent tremor came, and an enormously thick chain was yanked out from the wall of the pit. The chain went straight down into the depths, of unknown length!

The other heavenly soldiers were astonished by the sight and gathered around to look.

Chen Shi called out loudly, "There are similar chains on the surrounding mountain peaks! Each squad, go and pull those chains out!"

Bai Fangfang, Xiao Dulu, and the others immediately flew off. The immortals each activated their Primordial Spirits, grabbing hold of the chains and heaving with all their strength. Their individual power was far inferior to Black Pot's, but with fifty immortals working together, they still easily pulled the chains out from the depths of the earth!

After a while, everyone gathered again at the edge of the deep pit, looking down. They could see chains emerging from the pit walls, extending all the way to the bottomless depths.

"Have Regional Commander Zhang Xian and the others noticed these chains?" Xiao Dulu spoke up.

Zhong Lin shook his head. "Most likely not. When they went down, these chains were deeply embedded in the pit walls. If they had noticed them, they would have pulled them out already."

Chen Shi's heart stirred. "Black Pot."

Black Pot understood his intent. It came to the edge of the pit, grabbed hold of a chain, and began pulling it out from the pit bit by bit.

Soon, the chain behind Black Pot had piled up into a veritable mountain of iron, with more and more chain continuously being hauled out.

The chain clanked and clattered. After pulling for what seemed like an eternity, the chain grew lighter and lighter until finally, the entire iron chain was fully extracted.

Chen Shi inspected the broken end of the chain and saw that it had a long, narrow diagonal cut. The cut surface was extremely smooth, as if it had been finely polished.

Zhong Lin came over, examined it for a moment, and said, "This is the cut mark of Primordial Chaos Sword Qi!"

He activated the sword box on his back. A stream of Primordial Chaos Sword Qi flew out and struck the chain with a clang. Sparks flew everywhere, but it only left a faint scratch on the chain's surface.

Zhong Lin shook his head. "My mastery of the Primordial Chaos Sword Scripture isn't enough to sever this chain."

Bai Fangfang, Xiao Dulu, and the others each activated their Primordial Chaos Sword Qi, channeling the Primordial Chaos Dao Scripture to drive their sword qi at the chain. But the sword qi struck the chain and didn't even leave a mark.

Chen Shi also activated his Primordial Chaos Sword Qi and executed the second move of the Sword Scripture - Wind Lord's Irregularity.

As the sword light shot forth, his mind suddenly flooded with the principles of wind sweeping across the land: the warm breeze greening the southern banks, the biting north wind withering all things. In that instant, he comprehended Wind Lord's Irregularity, the flourishing and withering of all creation, grasping the profound mysteries of this move completely!

This move had always contained the profound workings of the Celestial Way. Even with his achievements, he hadn't been able to fully comprehend its wonders until now. But at this moment, for some unknown reason, he suddenly understood the supreme principles hidden within!

"Ting!"

The sword strike was exquisite beyond measure. The sword light descended, and the chain was actually severed by him, leaving behind a clean, smooth cut!

Chen Shi was deeply astonished: "Could this be the effect of the Celestial Strategy's imprint?"

The surrounding heavenly soldiers burst into admiration. Chen Shi steadied himself, made a few modest remarks, and met Zhong Lin's gaze.

Zhong Lin withdrew his gaze and carefully examined both cut surfaces. "It is indeed a cut mark of Primordial Chaos Sword Qi. The one who severed this chain is no ordinary person. Their cultivation of the Primordial Chaos Dao Scripture has reached an extremely profound level - at minimum, the realm of a Gold Immortal."

Having said this, he glanced at Chen Shi again.

Chen Shi said, "I am not a Gold Immortal, yet I could still sever the chain."

Zhong Lin gave him a deep look. "Perhaps Brother Chen is a Gold Immortal."

Xiao Dulu laughed. "Brother Chen achieved Dao Unification at West Heaven Expanse - everyone saw it with their own eyes. How could he be a Gold Immortal? Brother Zhong, I think you're mistaken."

Everyone chimed in agreement.

Suddenly, Bai Fangfang spoke up: "The one who severed this chain used the Primordial Chaos Dao Scripture as their cultivation technique, Primordial Chaos Sword Qi as their sword energy, and most likely the Primordial Chaos Sword Scripture as their sword art. In that case... couldn't they be someone from our heavenly soldier camp?"

The moment these words were spoken, silence fell over the area.

Zhong Lin broke the silence. "An ordinary heavenly soldier couldn't do it. But a Commander who oversees a division of heavenly soldiers might have the strength to sever this chain."

He studied the great pit and said in a deep voice, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be the Demon-Refining Well left by Patriarch of the Three Purities, with a great demon trapped inside. Originally, the Demon-Refining Well was buried deep underground, its location unknown to anyone. But not long ago, someone found it, broke through to create this pit in the dead of night, descended to the depths, severed the chains binding the great demon, and released it. Under this person's guidance, that great demon attacked the Celestial Court, broke into the Tianji Guard, and shattered the Celestial Way treasure, the Celestial Strategy. And this person is among the heavenly soldiers and generals serving under the Heavenly King."

Everyone's hearts sank upon hearing this.

"He committed such an act seemingly in secret, but it cannot be hidden from those who pay attention."

Zhong Lin said, "After the Celestial Strategy was destroyed, he had no time to leave the Celestial Court. But if he's smart, he'll definitely find time to return here and clean up the Demon-Refining Well and these chains."

The moment he finished speaking, a voice rang out from afar: "Are those the troops under Zhang Xian of the Fire Battalion ahead? Wu Guanyun, Commander of the Chen Character Guard's Chen Character Office, has arrived for inspection!"

Everyone's faces turned deathly pale in an instant, their eyes filled with despair.

Chen Shi said without changing his expression, "Everyone, stay calm and composed."

Xiao Dulu's face was ashen, and he stammered, "Commander Wu has come to clean up the crime scene! We're definitely going to be killed by them! How are we supposed to stay calm?!"

Chen Shi frowned slightly and said, "Black Pot."

Black Pot understood. In an instant, its consciousness swept over everyone present.