Chapter 616: Demonic Bones in the Well 20

Chen Shi happened to be short on materials for refining treasures. Upon hearing this, he probed tentatively, "How about... I take some?"

Feng Huixue stepped down from the rainbow bridge and smiled, "Your Highness, please follow me."

Chen Shi followed her, leaving the River Lord Bridge, passing through the Rain Master Lane and the Wind Marquis Gate, arriving at the Ruizhu Daohua Palace on Xuanwu Street.

Inside the Daohua Palace was a well. Beside the well were Bagua Dao patterns, exquisitely fine, vividly manifesting the great Daos of Heaven, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Mountain, Marsh, Water, and Fire to their fullest expression.

Chen Shi was about to study them carefully when Feng Huixue smiled, "Your Highness, those are divine path Dao patterns. An immortal cannot comprehend them."

Chen Shi was about to withdraw his gaze when he suddenly paused slightly. He realized that although the Dao patterns beside the well were obscure, he could understand a portion of their mysteries.

"Could the Celestial Strategy decipher these eight divine path Dao patterns?"

Puzzled, he followed Feng Huixue to the well's edge and asked, "Senior Sister, who left these Bagua Dao patterns beside the well?"

"I do not know. When I arrived at the mysterious yellow sea, the well was already here."

Feng Huixue speculated, "I suppose Her Ladyship personally inscribed them when the Heavenly Palace was built."

Chen Shi shook his head, "It should not be Her Ladyship. Her Ladyship is an Earth Spirit. Some principles within the Bagua are not within an Earth Spirit's grasp but fall under the authority of Heaven Gods. Her Ladyship likely does not understand them."

Among the Bagua, the Way of Earthly Spirits included Kun, Gen, Li, Dui, Kan, and Water, while Qian and Zhen did not belong to the Way of Earthly Spirits. This was why Chen Shi made such a conjecture.

He examined them carefully. The Dao patterns beside the well were exceedingly profound, indicating that the deity who left them had extremely high attainments in these eight great Daos.

"I also do not know who left them. Most likely a Heaven God from the construction of the Heavenly Palace."

Feng Huixue had no intention of delving further into the origin of the Bagua Dao patterns. She smiled, "What is in the well is mysterious yellow ancestral energy. If Your Highness wishes to collect it, you must fish it out with your own mana. Back then, several Buddhas from the Western Heaven came to our Virtuous Virtue Heavenly Palace seeking ancestral energy to refine magic treasures. They too relied on their own abilities to fish it out."

Chen Shi glanced back at the Bagua Dao patterns, doubt in his heart.

His yin and yang paths were originally born from the Bagua, and from the Bagua he had derived the Ghost and God Sixty-Four Variations, sixty-four kinds of Ghost and God Domains. After achieving Dao Unification and becoming an immortal, Chen Shi had recently begun transforming his understanding of the Bagua into immortal path Dao patterns.

But his transformed immortal path Dao patterns were far inferior compared to the divine path Dao patterns on the stone slab beside the well.

The stone slab's Dao patterns manifested the eight great Daos of Heaven, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Water, Fire, Mountain, and Marsh to the utmost extreme. To Chen Shi, they were no less impressive than the Dao patterns on the cyan stele of Daoist Lingbao. They absolutely could not have been left by a Heaven God who built the Heavenly Palace.

"Perhaps only Her Ladyship knows who left these Dao patterns. For now, collecting the mysterious yellow ancestral energy is what matters!"

Chen Shi stood beside Feng Huixue and peered into the well. He saw that the well was bright and clear, and surprisingly contained another world!

In his eyes, the sun, moon, and stars in the well drew closer and closer, the ground grew larger and larger. He was startled, "I am falling into the well!"

At that moment, his shoulder tightened, and his body immediately stopped.

Feng Huixue gripped his shoulder and pulled him out of the well, smiling, "The ancestral energy in this well is extremely dangerous. You must be careful when looking into the well. If you fall in, you will be assimilated by the ancestral energy and die on the spot. If Your Highness wishes to observe the ancestral energy in the well, use your peripheral vision. Otherwise, you will fall into the world evolved within the well and meet with misfortune."

Hearing this, Chen Shi used his peripheral vision to observe the ancestral energy in the well. Sure enough, he could see the mysterious yellow ancestral energy clearly.

The mysterious and yellow qi was a mixture of azure-black qi and yellow qi, but they did not blend, distinctly separated. The mysterious yellow ancestral energy, however, was a chaotic state where mysterious qi and yellow qi were jumbled together. It slowly rotated within the well, faintly emitting thunderous roars.

Each time a bolt of thunder light burst forth, a world could be seen being born within the mysterious yellow ancestral energy in the well, with mountains and rivers neatly arranged, sun and moon complete, stars in motion.

When the thunder light extinguished, that world also annihilated and vanished.

"What is in the well is the Infinite Diagram!"

Chen Shi was about to look more carefully when suddenly the world spun, and he was about to fall into the well again!

Feng Huixue hastily reached out and gripped his shoulder, rescuing him. She said earnestly, "Your Highness, when observing, you must not harbor the intent to look closely. The more you want to see clearly, the easier it is to fall prey."

Chen Shi thanked her, "Senior Sister, rest assured, I will be careful."

His heart still raced with lingering fear, and at the same time he was somewhat puzzled, "The mysterious and yellow qi is clearly more suited to evolving the Supreme Diagram. Why is it that the mysterious yellow ancestral energy in the well evolves the Infinite Diagram?"

The Infinite Diagram directly gave birth to a world within it, which greatly shocked him. It was a Dao technique he had never encountered before.

But this well was truly dangerous. The slightest lapse in attention would cause him to fall in.

Only by not paying attention could one avoid it. Far too counterintuitive.

"Let me fish out the mysterious yellow ancestral energy first."

He steadied his mind. A thread of spiritual consciousness went first, slipping into the well and tethering a thread of mysterious yellow ancestral energy.

The moment his spiritual consciousness touched the mysterious yellow ancestral energy, he felt all kinds of strange Dao sounds ringing out, pouring into his mind, deafening him until his head spun.

Chen Shi immediately mobilized his mana, following that thread of spiritual consciousness into the well, wrapping around that thread of mysterious yellow ancestral energy. Then he suddenly exerted force with both hands, lifting upward, but his arms abruptly jolted to a stop. Great tendons beneath his skin strained taut, his muscles wrenched with aching soreness!

"So heavy!"

Despite being prepared, he was still startled by the weight of the mysterious yellow ancestral energy. He had only fished a single strand as thin as a hair, yet could not lift this thread of ancestral energy out of the well!

"If forged into a magic treasure, could this thing truly be deployed?"

Chen Shi was somewhat skeptical. Never mind forging such ancestral energy into a magic treasure. Even pressing it onto someone's body would likely crush an immortal until their bones snapped and tendons broke!

"Once an immortal artifact is deployed, it needs speed. Forging ancestral energy into a magic treasure, I fear, would make speed impossible."

He drew a long breath, activated the Primordial Chaos Dao Scripture, and mobilized the power of his Dao Ruins Dao Realm. Finally, he slowly lifted a thread of mysterious yellow ancestral energy from the well.

Chen Shi did not let his true energy disperse. His arms remained steady. He felt as though what he had fished up was not a thread of ancestral energy but a full bright moon, frighteningly heavy!

He lifted it bit by bit. Above his head, clouds and mists steamed. His mana was pushed to its absolute limit.

Chen Shi felt that the higher he lifted it, the heavier that thread of ancestral energy became. Seeing that he could barely hold on for another breath, alarmed, he immediately mobilized the Dao power of the demonic domain in the well.

"So light!"

The instant he mobilized the power of the demonic domain in the well, that thread of ancestral energy soared out of the well and actually dragged him flying into the air!

Behind Chen Shi's head, the two great Dao Realms of Dao Ruins and the demonic domain emerged. He strained to steady himself, barely preventing himself from being dragged away.

But this thread of ancestral energy twisted and transformed in the air, as if about to transform into a living being and escape.

He mobilized his third Dao Realm, the Dao power of Western Ox New Continent, and only then suppressed this thread of mysterious yellow ancestral energy.

Without hesitation, Chen Shi immediately deployed the Purple Heaven Immortal Gourd and collected this thread of mysterious yellow ancestral energy into the immortal gourd.

Inside the immortal gourd were still six strands of sword qi colliding with each other. Opening the gourd, one could hear the crisp ringing of sword qi clashing. But when the mysterious yellow ancestral energy fell into the gourd, the sound of the six strands of sword qi dimmed.

These six strands of sword qi were refined from Profound Heaven Extreme Radiance. One gourd of Profound Heaven Extreme Radiance could refine two strands of sword qi, and the interior of the gourd was like a small world, showing just how terrifying the Profound Heaven Sword Qi was.

The six strands of sword qi were like swimming fish, freely weaving about, incomparably sharp. Chen Shi had previously used these swords to break through the magic treasure formations of thousands of immortals. Yet upon entering the immortal gourd, the Profound Heaven Sword Qi seemed to fall into mire, unable to move anymore, their collisions listless.

Chen Shi peered into the gourd. He saw that the thread of mysterious yellow ancestral energy within the immortal gourd coiled at the bottom like an azure dragon, not revealing the form of the Infinite Diagram.

"Probably only within this well does it form the Infinite Diagram."

He looked around. Feng Huixue was no longer at the well's edge, presumably having left while he was collecting the mysterious yellow ancestral energy.

"One thread of ancestral energy is not enough to refine a treasure. I will rest a while and come back to collect more."

Chen Shi's breath was somewhat disordered. Collecting one thread of ancestral energy was more exhausting than a great battle with the Celestial Venerable. He simply was in no hurry to collect the mysterious yellow ancestral energy, and instead went to examine the Bagua Dao patterns.

Although these patterns were divine path Dao patterns, he could surprisingly understand a portion of them, and he attempted to decipher them.

"If Granny Sha were here and saw these Dao patterns, she would certainly be overjoyed." He murmured inwardly.

He pondered carefully. Deep within his consciousness, the Celestial Strategy imprint operated once more, helping him interpret the first Dao pattern.

Chen Shi suddenly felt his ears sharp and eyes bright, his mind turning faster than before. Various profound and mysterious Dao insights poured in, and the mysteries hidden within the Dao patterns were unlocked one after another.

"If only I had Fulou Village medicinal pills now, I could surely obtain even more mysteries."

Chen Shi studied for a long while, then suddenly felt his head grow heavy, nearly fainting. He hastily stopped, not daring to read further.

Even the Celestial Strategy had its limits of wisdom. It was not omnipotent. When the Celestial Strategy could not decipher something, Chen Shi's mind would be damaged. At best he would fall unconscious. At worst, his brain marrow would flow from his nostrils and he would die from mental exhaustion.

Chen Shi stood up, suddenly dizzy and seeing stars, swaying unsteadily. He hastily steadied himself.

At that moment, a voice said, "You are... the Crown Prince. Why are you studying the Heaven Emperor's Dao patterns?"

Chen Shi stood firm, his vision still blurry. After a moment, he gradually made out the figure before him.

The newcomer was the Empress of Earth, with a dignified and lovely countenance, though her eyes seemed somewhat larger, bright and clear, carrying a hint of mischievous slyness.

She wore a light red floor-length skirt inside, layered with a right-lapel pale pink gauze robe embroidered with dragons and phoenixes, then a layer of pale blue light gauze, and outermost a layer of printed light gauze.

Each layer of her garments was extremely sheer, slightly revealing her skin, setting off her snow-white complexion.

"Godmother..." Chen Shi had just spoken when he immediately realized. His godmother was in Western Ox New Continent, impossible to appear here.

That Empress of Earth chuckled, "Godmother? I am the Houtu Huangdiqi of the Void-Returning World, whose authority was usurped and who was driven out. I am not your godmother. Though your calling me godmother is not entirely wrong."

She came before Chen Shi, sizing him up and down, then glanced at the Dao patterns on the ground, smiling, "You were just looking at the Heaven Emperor's Bagua Dao patterns? You can understand them?"

Chen Shi answered honestly, "A slight understanding, one or two points."

"You are quite strange. These Dao patterns were left by the Heaven Emperor Fuxi. They are clearly of the divine path, yet you cultivate the immortal path. Why can you understand them?"

The Empress of Earth of the Void-Returning World circled around him several times, saying, "These Dao patterns were left by the Heaven Emperor Fuxi when the mysterious yellow sea was suppressed. Since the Heavenly Palace was built, countless immortals have come, and none could understand them. Yet you can! There must be something odd about you!"

Chen Shi asked curiously, "Your Ladyship was driven out by someone?"

The Empress of Earth tossed aside the matter of his oddity, saying with vexation, "Isn't it so? Those rebels attacked the underworld, seized my divine position. I could not beat them, so I came back to find some family heirlooms to turn the tables and retake the underworld."

Chen Shi could not help but smile. This Empress of Earth of the Void-Returning World had a completely different temperament from his godmother, and from Houtu Huangdiqi.

The Empress of Earth came to the well and peered into it, yet was not drawn in by the well. She said, "I need to acquire some good things before I can reclaim my Dao Field."

She glanced at Chen Shi, who was recuperating nearby, her eyeballs rolling. She smiled, "Crown Prince, go into the well and help your godmother fish out an item. This well, I cannot descend into."

Chen Shi opened his eyes, saying, "I cannot descend into this well either. Senior Sister Feng said that falling into the well means being assimilated into mysterious yellow ancestral energy."

The Empress of Earth smiled, "That girl Feng has long hair but short insight. What does she know? I will draw an Infinite Diagram on your back. Then you can enter the well without fear of being harmed by the ancestral energy. You only need to glance at the bottom of the well to fall in. No matter how I try, I cannot enter."

"The Infinite Diagram?"

Chen Shi's heart stirred slightly. He had been unable to see the Infinite Diagram in the well no matter how he tried, and his curiosity had long been unbearable. He immediately went to the well's edge.

The Empress of Earth drew an Infinite Diagram on his back, saying, "With this diagram on your body, you can enter the well without being harmed by the ancestral energy for a time. But my mana is shallow, I cannot sustain it for too long. You help me find that treasure, and I will help you collect ancestral energy, and also teach you the method for refining ancestral energy. I guarantee you will be satisfied!"

Chen Shi was greatly tempted, saying, "What is the item Godmother seeks?"

The Empress of Earth removed the red cord tying her hair, tying one end around his waist, saying, "It is a horsetail whisk. Once inside, search for it immediately. If you see other treasures, do not touch them. Only bring back this whisk. When you return, pull the red cord at your waist, and I will know."

Chen Shi stood at the well's edge, somewhat hesitant, but still glanced into the well. Immediately the world spun, and he tumbled into the well.

When Chen Shi landed and stood up, looking around, he saw that the bottom of the well was an endless expanse of bones stretching as far as the eye could see.

He looked up. In the sky drifted the mysterious yellow ancestral energy. From time to time, incomparably massive tornadoes plunged down from above, like giants stirring a pot of soup, furiously churning those bones.

Countless skeletons flew up in the gale of mysterious yellow ancestral energy, entering the clouds of mysterious yellow ancestral energy. After a moment, the bones fell like rain.

Chen Shi hastily looked in all directions, searching for the horsetail whisk.

The bones on the ground were beyond counting. Pinned among them were enormous magic treasures, seemingly suppressing this land and the bones upon it.

Every skeleton contained dense demonic miasma. Even though Chen Shi cultivated the demonic path, he was still overawed by these skeletons, feeling himself far inferior.

The erosion of demonic miasma was extremely intense. There was a faint tendency for even his immortal path to be assimilated into the demonic path!

"This place is not fit for staying long! The horsetail whisk, the horsetail whisk..."

Chen Shi's eyes lit up. He suddenly saw a massive white-bone skull. From the skull, strands of white hair flew about, drifting into the sky, a thousand zhang long.

"This is the horsetail whisk Her Ladyship spoke of!"

Chen Shi immediately charged toward that white-bone skull. At the same time, the entire sea of bones seemed to come alive. Skeletons crawled up one after another, pursuing him, crying out, "A living person! A living person has entered!"

"Our chance to escape!"

"Seize him! Do not let this opportunity slip!"

Chen Shi sensed his own life force draining rapidly, flowing toward these skeletons. He hurriedly increased his speed. In a few bounds he reached the white-bone skull. Without a word, he grabbed the neck bone of the white-bone skull. His body surged, and in an instant he transformed into a giant, straining to pull upward!

"Crash!"

A section of white bone was pulled from the ground by him. That massive horsetail whisk also revealed its true form.

Chen Shi had no time to examine it closely. He tugged the red cord at his waist. Immediately an immense force seized him, pulling him toward the clouds of mysterious yellow ancestral energy.

Countless great demon skeletons soared into the air, following Chen Shi into the clouds. Suddenly the power of the Infinite Diagram erupted, shaking them all down.

Chen Shi landed beside the well. His body gradually returned to normal. Still shaken, he was about to look into the well to see if any great demon skeletons had pursued him, when that Empress of Earth pulled him aside, smiling, "Do you have a death wish? You want to go in again?"

Chen Shi immediately came to his senses and withdrew his gaze.

That Empress of Earth, having obtained the white-bone horsetail whisk, was delighted. She smiled, "With this treasure, I can reclaim my Dao Field!"

She walked out briskly, her voice carrying back, "Crown Prince, stay here for now and suppress this well. After all, one suppressing treasure is missing. Your Highness must be careful. Things may crawl out of the well! You need only strike whatever crawls out back into the well! I will return this treasure once I have reclaimed my Dao Field!"

Chen Shi stood stunned, watching her depart into the distance. He suddenly realized, "Things will crawl out?"