Chapter 619: The Great Shun Immortal

Chen Shi was somewhat confused after hearing this. "King Li treats me quite well. Could Your Ladyship have some misunderstanding about King Li?"

That was what he thought, but he still thanked Your Ladyship for her goodwill.

Houtu Huangdiqi said, "I have duties and responsibilities that prevent me from seeing you off personally, so I will have that girl Feng escort you on my behalf. This palace oversees the underworld of all worlds. If you encounter difficulties, an avatar will come to find the Crown Prince. I hope the Crown Prince will not decline."

Chen Shi understood her meaning and smiled. "I shall respectfully obey the divine decree."

He took his leave of Your Ladyship and stepped out of Nine Splendors Jade Aperture. Feng Huixue, dressed in bright yellow garments, was already waiting outside.

The two walked side by side. Along the way, fairy maidens greeted them, and Feng Huixue responded to each one, very amiable.

"Why does Your Highness wish to leave the mysterious yellow sea and return to the Celestial Court?"

Feng Huixue was rather puzzled. "The Celestial Court is a place of ceaseless trouble, constantly under attack. King Li does not look favorably upon immortals either. Staying in Virtuous Virtue Heavenly Palace would be far safer. Why must Your Highness leave?"

Chen Shi laughed. "This place is full of women, and there is a peerless beauty like you, Senior Sister Feng. I fear I may not be able to remain composed."

Feng Huixue pursed her lips and smiled, but did not respond.

Chen Shi continued, "Moreover, I am to accompany a senior martial brother to Golden Turtle Island."

"Golden Turtle Island?"

Feng Huixue was briefly taken aback and warned, "Golden Turtle Island does not have a good reputation. Your Highness should not become too close with them."

Chen Shi asked in confusion, "Could it be that Golden Turtle Island has committed some outrageous crime?"

"That is not the case. It is because they are all remnants of a fallen dynasty."

Feng Huixue explained, "In the final years of Great Shang, although they too were Qi Refiners, they did not belong to the Three Purities faction. Instead, they aided Great Shang and were later defeated, with countless casualties. After migrating to the Earth Immortal Realm, they were shunned, acted bizarrely, and gained a terrible reputation. Many heavenly gods in the Celestial Court are, in fact, immortals of their lineage who were deified after death. However, very few of them hold any real power. If you become associated with them, you will also be considered a remnant of a fallen dynasty."

She added with deep meaning, "Great Zhou has long since fallen. The former dynasty within the so-called former dynasty remnant does not refer to Great Shang."

Chen Shi humbly sought instruction: "Then what does this former dynasty refer to?"

"The Celestial Court of the Great Shang era."

Feng Huixue spoke with profound import. "The current Celestial Court calls Golden Turtle Island the remnants of a former dynasty. If you become too close with them, you will be feared by the current Celestial Court. And if you wish to serve the Celestial Court, and the Celestial Court desires your death, having King Li take you out to subdue demons and vanquish evil would be enough to bury you."

Chen Shi let out a muffled snort, suddenly feeling that Houtu Huangdiqi sending someone to warn King Li was an exceedingly wise decision.

Feng Huixue's expression turned serious. "If it were merely the Celestial Court, that would be one thing, for Your Ladyship's prestige could still keep it in check. But beyond the Celestial Court, Your Ladyship has no such power. Most immortals in this world belong to the Three Purities lineage. Back then, the Three Purities lineage and the Golden Turtle Island lineage slaughtered each other so fiercely that mountains of corpses and seas of blood formed. If you join the Golden Turtle Island lineage, you will inevitably be regarded with enmity by the other immortals."

Chen Shi felt a chill in his heart.

He had heard that Golden Turtle Island had a poor reputation, but he never imagined it was this notorious.

As they spoke, they arrived at the Heavenly Aperture, where Black Pot and Yu Sari were already waiting quietly on the boat.

Feng Huixue said, "I have heard that some people on the mysterious yellow sea are searching for Your Highness's whereabouts. When Your Highness returns to the Celestial Court this time, you must be careful beyond measure."

Chen Shi thanked her.

Feng Huixue added, "As for Golden Turtle Island, it is best to stay far away. Among the immortals, many powerful beings keep watch over Golden Turtle Island, fearing it will rise again. Your Highness must not be dragged into it."

Chen Shi agreed, then said with a solemn expression, "Immortals can awaken a great demon, slaughter their way into the Celestial Court, and destroy the Celestial Strategy. Virtuous Virtue Heavenly Palace cannot compare to the Celestial Court. I fear it too will inevitably come under attack. Senior Sister must take precautions."

Feng Huixue smiled faintly. "Does Your Highness think that because I am a woman, I would not dare to unleash a slaughter? I have long since laid down the Heaven-Encompassing Net, just waiting for them to come and meet their deaths."

Though her smile was beautiful, her killing intent was frigid.

Seeing this, Chen Shi laughed. "Since Senior Sister is well prepared, I am relieved. Farewell."

Feng Huixue asked, "Does Your Highness require this humble one to escort you out of the mysterious yellow sea?"

Chen Shi shook his head and smiled. "The entire mysterious yellow sea is Your Ladyship's Dao Field. If anything happens to me, Your Ladyship will certainly not stand by and do nothing. Please attend to your duties, Senior Sister."

Feng Huixue did not press further and watched from a distance as the tower ship sailed away from Virtuous Virtue Heavenly Palace.

Chen Shi stood at the bow, watching the mysterious yellow sea generate qi waves ahead, like great billows rolling across the sea surface, rising and falling. In the distance, the sounds of divine abilities and spells clashing could be heard. Some immortals who had come to seize mysterious yellow ancestral energy were still fighting fiercely.

On the boat, Black Pot sat down and licked the white-bone scorpion tail Chen Shi had obtained. Chen Shi had originally planned to use the scorpion tail to refine a treasure, but for a time he did not know how to refine it. Seeing this, Black Pot was overjoyed, and would gnaw on it whenever it had nothing better to do.

Fortunately, this white-bone scorpion tail was incredibly hard, so there was no need to worry about it being bitten through.

Chen Shi withdrew his gaze, sat down properly, and continued studying the mysterious yellow ancestral energy.

Inside the gourd, over a hundred strands of mysterious yellow ancestral energy were still crawling about.

The slaughter on the mysterious yellow sea continued. More than a dozen Gold Immortals, fighting over a single strand of ancestral energy as thin as a hair, had become red-eyed with killing, completely unaware that on a small boat sailing past in the distance, inside Chen Shi's gourd, mysterious yellow ancestral energy was in abundant supply.

Chen Shi had not comprehended the profound mystery of Infinite, and could not bind the ancestral energy, refine them into one. He could only let these strands of ancestral energy run wild in all directions.

"How does one refine ancestral energy into a magic treasure?"

Chen Shi pondered.

Yu Sari said the ancestral energy could be split into dozens of portions. Using one portion mixed into treasure-refining materials would yield a refined magic treasure. In this way, dozens of remarkable magic treasures could be created.

Chen Shi felt that magic treasures refined in that manner were too cheap and failed to bring out the special properties of mysterious yellow ancestral energy.

"My Profound Heaven Sword Qi was destroyed, so I might as well use the ancestral energy to refine one hundred and eight strands of sword qi. If I want to refine magic treasures in the future, I can simply fish more from the well in Virtuous Virtue Heavenly Palace."

Thinking of this, he capped the gourd's mouthpiece, circulated the Primordial Chaos Sword Scripture, and activated sword moves like Earthly Qi's Cold Greeting and Wind Lord's Irregularity, striking them into the gourd. These sword moves transformed into various imprints, seeping into the ancestral energy. Before long, the sound of sword qi clashing and ringing like swordsong came from within the immortal gourd.

Chen Shi struck out an untold number of sword moves in one breath. All one hundred and eight strands of ancestral energy had been mobilized by him, colliding and clashing within the immortal gourd, their power also slowly rising.

"The rate of improvement is much faster than that of Profound Heaven Sword Qi!" Chen Shi could not help but feel delighted.

At this tempering speed, within at most one or two days, the power of the mysterious yellow sword qi would surpass Profound Heaven Sword Qi!

Once the mysterious yellow sword qi was fully refined, its power would likely be more than several times that of Profound Heaven Sword Qi!

"As the sword qi's power grows stronger, will the Purple Heaven Immortal Gourd be able to withstand it?"

Chen Shi pondered for a while, then sat cross-legged and used the method from the Primordial Chaos Sword Scripture for refining a sword box to ritual-refine the immortal gourd.

The sword box distributed by the Celestial Court was a sword-nurturing box. Sword qi stored within the sword box was continuously nourished and tempered, growing ever more powerful. If the Purple Heaven Immortal Gourd was ritual-refined by the same method, it would become a sword-nurturing gourd, specially designed to nurture sword qi. The sword qi would then find it difficult to harm the gourd.

Still not entirely at ease, he also imprinted the mysterious yellow Dao patterns he had comprehended into the immortal gourd. If the mysterious yellow sword qi touched the inner wall of the gourd, it would trigger these mysterious yellow Dao patterns, dispersing the sword qi's force.

After refining the gourd, Chen Shi summoned the Tianluo Blood-Transforming Divine Blade and sealed this divine blade inside the gourd. He used the blade's killing aura to collide with the sword qi, forcing the sword qi to grow faster and sparing himself the labor of countless refinements.

"If the sword qi grows too strong, it might damage the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade!"

Thinking of this, Chen Shi moved the sword-nurturing gourd into his well's demonic domain, enshrining it beneath the blood tree, allowing the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade to continuously absorb demonic miasma from the well's world and strengthen itself. In this way, blade and sword advanced together, and there was no need to worry about the blade being severed.

Having done all this, he rose and went to Black Pot's side. Black Pot protectively pulled the white-bone scorpion tail closer to itself, but Chen Shi still snatched this piece of bone away.

"Even stealing a dog's bone..." A self-reproaching voice rang out in Chen Shi's mind.

Chen Shi glared at Black Pot and threw the guilt the dog had imposed on him to the back of his mind, then attempted to ritual-refine the white-bone scorpion tail.

He circulated the Profound Yin Nine Heaven Art, using the demonic Dao to control the scorpion tail. Immediately, fine and eerie imprints surfaced on the surface of the scorpion tail.

"This is... demonic Dao patterns!"

Chen Shi examined these imprints, and his heart stirred slightly. This great demon either was born with them, or during its cultivation it had imprinted the demonic Dao patterns it had comprehended onto its bones, which was why this tail bone was so terrifyingly powerful!

Chen Shi grabbed the tip of the scorpion tail and circulated his mana. With a swish, a barbed hook descended from the sky, stabbing into a spot a hundred li away!

"What a treasure!"

Chen Shi was both startled and delighted. He swung the white-bone scorpion tail, whipping it until it whistled through the air. In an instant, white shadows filled the surroundings, so dense that not even wind could pass through.

He activated more demonic Dao patterns on the scorpion tail. The next moment, a sky full of scorpion tail barbs descended from above, enveloping an area of a hundred li in every direction!

This white-bone scorpion tail had been ritual-refined by the great demon for a long time and had long since been made indestructible. It required no ritual-refinement from Chen Shi; he could simply unleash its power directly.

Chen Shi put away the scorpion tail and praised it repeatedly. "I originally thought that a demon or monster swallowing a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals in one gulp was merely an exaggeration. Now that I have obtained this great demon's tail bone, I know it was no exaggeration."

If he raised this tail, it could envelop an area of a hundred li. If he faced the heavenly soldiers and generals of the heavenly soldier camps, given the abilities of these celestial immortals, absolutely no one could evade the scorpion tail barbs. In a single move, all heavenly soldiers and generals within a hundred-li radius would be completely annihilated!

At this moment, Chen Shi's heart stirred slightly. He looked around and said, "Daoist Friend Yu Sari, the direction you are heading is not Mount Tai Island. Daoist Friend?"

He suddenly came to a realization and tested, "Wu Banshan, Immortal Lord Wu?"

A human voice issued from the mouth of Yu Sari, who was pulling the boat ahead. "Clever rascal, truly clever. You noticed after all, but it is already too late."

Chen Shi raised his head and looked ahead, and a sea island paradise came into view.

Wu Banshan, Immortal Lord Wu, stood at the mountain's summit, gazing over from afar. And by Immortal Lord Wu's side, there were several other figures.

Chen Shi frowned slightly and swept his gaze around. On the sea surface, several more tower ships appeared in his field of vision. On those tower ships, one figure after another walked to the bow, gazing over from afar.

On one of the ships, a noblewoman in purple robes held a pipa in her arms, her face bearing an expression of fury. It was Yuan Bixia, Fairy Maiden Yuan, with several old servants behind her whose cultivation was far higher than hers. They were presumably experts sent by Immortal Lord Hua to protect her.

On another ship, Chen Shi saw Daoist Qian Yi, the aggrieved owner of the earthly treasure spiritual root, the Langya Crimson Pearl. The old Daoist carried a long sword on his back and held a whisk, while his other hand stroked his beard. Purple lightning rolled above his head.

On yet another ship, Purple Heaven Immortal Lord, his face tinged with purple qi, gazed over balefully.

Chen Shi looked at each one in turn, and his heart skipped a beat. These immortals were all the aggrieved parties whose debts he had settled for the Empress of Earth. They had presumably heard that he and Black Pot had appeared on the mysterious yellow sea, and so had hurried here early to set up an ambush.

Wu Banshan had used the Paranirmita Vasavartin Dharma to control Yu Sari, dragging their boat into this ambush circle.

Chen Shi exhaled a turbid breath and slowly mobilized the power of his three Dao Realms. He said in a low voice, "Black Pot."

Black Pot raised the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler and stimulated the Heavenly Cycle Fire Domain. With a crackling sound, thunder and fire intertwined, lighting up the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler.

Chen Shi let the tower ship beneath his feet sail toward the immortal island where Wu Banshan was, and tightened his grip on the white-bone scorpion tail in his hand.

On Western Ox New Continent, the sky was suddenly covered with radiant light. The people of Western Ox New Continent had long since grown accustomed to this phenomenon.

Whenever this happened, it was either a heavenly auspicious sign or the world's Great Dao of Western Ox New Continent being mobilized. There was no third possibility.

Hu Feifei had also grown accustomed to officials from the Directorate of Astronomy reporting such phenomena. But this time, the official from the Directorate of Astronomy came running in haste with a rather strange expression.

"Grand Secretary, at the Imperial Capital dock, a ship has arrived!"

Hu Feifei was briefly taken aback. "A ship? What ship?"

"The Great Shun treasure ship. There are many immortals aboard, and the True King's Consort, the Emperor Father, the Empress Dowager, and others are also on board."

Hu Feifei was greatly shaken. She hurried out of the Imperial City and arrived at the dock, where from afar she saw a large ship somewhat resembling the Ming treasure ship sailing with full sails into Xinxiang Harbor. That ship flew a black dragon banner. The black dragon was bold and unrestrained, mighty and extraordinary.

On the reverse side of the black dragon banner were embroidered the two characters "Great Shun."

Emperor Father Chen Tang, Empress Dowager Wu Qingyu, True King's Consort Little Duan Immortal, as well as A Zhuo, Li Tianqing, Yang Bi, and others, appeared one after another before Hu Feifei's eyes.

Hu Feifei's heart pounded erratically. "Did they not go to the Earth Immortal Realm? How have they returned?"

At this moment, several immortals on the Great Shun treasure ship each raised their heads, looking at the sky in surprise. Among them, an old Daoist said in astonishment, "Could this Great Dao radiant light be someone mobilizing the Dao power between heaven and earth? Could Western Ox New Continent have already been refined into a Dao Field by someone?"

Hu Feifei came forward to welcome them. "This one is Hu Feifei, Grand Secretary of the True King's Residence of Western Ox New Continent. Greetings to the several high immortals!"

Blue Goat jumped down from the Great Shun treasure ship and laughed. "Feifei, why has Little Ten not come to welcome us? Where is your Old Ancestor? Where is Old Chen?"

He shouted loudly, "Old Chen, Chen Shi, come out! We did not make it to the Earth Immortal Realm, but instead found the Ancestral Land, the Divine Continent!"

He said excitedly, "The Great Shun Emperor has graciously approved and sent immortals from the Divine Continent to help us eradicate the Celestial Venerable!"

Black Pot's mother, that adult Huo Dog, also jumped down from the great ship. Without a word, she burrowed into the underworld to search for Black Pot in the demonic domain.

Chen Tang drifted down and said to Hu Feifei, "The Great Shun Emperor saw that we too are children of China, and so invited True Man Zhang of Mount Wudang to come and assist, to slay the Celestial Venerable! We dared not tarry and pressed forward at full speed, finally returning to Western Ox New Continent, and not too late at that!"

His eyes brimmed with tears, and he gazed excitedly at the mountains and rivers around him.

Hu Feifei opened her mouth. After a moment, she finally said, "Emperor Father, you were away too long. The True King unified with heaven and earth, and the Celestial Venerable was executed. His Majesty has also ascended to the Earth Immortal Realm, and has gone to look for you."

Chen Tang was stunned, his mind buzzing. He did not even hear clearly what Hu Feifei said afterward.

"Not only has His Majesty ascended, but the Emperor Father Above and Granny Sha and the others have also ascended, gone to the Earth Immortal Realm..."

That True Man Zhang, with crane-white hair and a childlike complexion, a turtle's form and a crane's bones, stepped down from the Great Shun treasure ship. He raised his head and looked at the sky. "Could it be that King Chen unified with heaven and earth and eradicated the Celestial Venerable? United with the entire Western Ox New Continent, he has already become a Gold Immortal. And now, with whom is he contending, that he must mobilize the Great Dao power between heaven and earth?"