Chapter 630: Taisui God Yin Jiao

In the Ancient Star Region, within the Mansion of the Year Star, a chanting voice arose. A deity of massive build held a book and read aloud: "The Dark Bird descends bearing the jade tablet, Peach Blossom Spring locks the cloud dwelling. The celestial river falls to dust, the plow and hoe shatter the Jade Void. Well cursed, well cursed. How hateful, this scholar dares to write poetry cursing me. He should be executed!"

He had three heads and six arms, with an eye growing from between his brows, his face bearing a murderous aura. He said in a low voice, "It's a pity it's not my turn for duty. Otherwise, I would certainly teach this book-writing scholar a lesson!"

Just as he spoke, a child's voice came from outside: "Master, a visitor from the Peach Blossom Spring grotto-heaven requests an audience with you."

The deity's heart stirred slightly, and he said, "Send him in."

An immortal walked in from outside. Upon meeting, he immediately bowed and said, "Disciple Guo Dongchen of the Peach Blossom Spring grotto-heaven pays respects to Lord Yin of the Year Star! This disciple has been ordered to deliver a letter."

Lord Yin of the Year Star took the letter, unfolded it and read. After pondering for a moment, he said, "I understand. You go back and tell my master that Yin Jiao will certainly go to the Celestial Court."

The immortal bowed and departed.

Lord Yin of the Year Star immediately ordered his men to prepare his carriage and left the Mansion of the Year Star.

At the Southern Heavenly Gate of the Celestial Court, there were numerous heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals guarding it. After all, this place was the gateway to the Celestial Court, and all immortals and deities coming and going used this gate.

That day, from afar, the heavenly soldiers and generals saw rolling murderous aura surging as it escorted a treasure carriage driving over. They quickly roused their spirits. When the carriage arrived before them, they saw it belonged to the Taisui God of Fleeting Years, surnamed Yin and named Jiao.

"Is Your Highness not on year duty?" asked the Heavenly King of Much Hearing, who guarded the Southern Heavenly Gate.

Lord Yin of the Year Star laughed and said, "Sixty years make one cycle, and I only serve one year of duty. I have just finished my rotation, so I can take a long vacation from now on."

The Heavenly King of Much Hearing was full of envy and said, "What official business does Your Highness have in the Celestial Court this time?"

Lord Yin of the Year Star shook his head and said, "It's not official business. My master sent me here to lodge a complaint and discuss a matter."

The Heavenly King of Much Hearing asked in confusion, "Lodge what complaint, discuss what matter? That it actually requires troubling Your Highness?"

Lord Yin of the Year Star sighed and said, "My master did send others, but they had little status and weak voices, and they were beaten and thrown into the Heavenly Prison. My master has always been an idle cloud and wild crane, with no power or influence in the Celestial Court. Helpless, knowing that I hold office in the Celestial Court, he ordered one of my junior brothers to find me and asked me to go to the Celestial Court to lodge a complaint."

Hearing this, the Heavenly King of Much Hearing immediately understood his purpose and laughed, "You've had it hard too." So he let him through.

Lord Yin of the Year Star drove his carriage all the way to the Pilgrimage Tower. He parked before the tower, got off the carriage, and went straight to the Heavenly Drum, beating it to cry out his grievance: On this side, the moment the drum sounded, several golden-armored divine generals rushed out, seized him, bound him tightly, and escorted him to the Lingxiao Treasure Hall.

In the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, more than a dozen deities were already kneeling. Seeing Lord Yin of the Year Star also delivered bound in ropes, they were each surprised.

Among them was a Five Grains Star Lord, Lord Yin of the Year Star's second younger brother, named Yin Hong. Seeing this, he said in shock, "Elder brother, why have you come too?"

Lord Yin of the Year Star laughed and said, "My master sent someone to invite me here to lodge a complaint."

Lord Yin Star said, "It's also about the matter of being at the top of the Immortal Slaying List."

Lord Yin of the Year Star nodded, then asked in confusion, "Are all of you also here for this?"

Everyone nodded in unison and said, "We too came to lodge complaints with the emperor on our masters' orders. We cannot let the madmen on the Immortal Slaying List go free."

Lord Yin Star said, "The madmen on the Immortal Slaying List are gravely wicked. Relying on someone in the Celestial Court backing them, they run rampant and have actually beaten the disciples of our Cloud Sky Grotto and thrown them into the Heavenly Prison. My master truly could not endure it, so he sent me to lodge a complaint with the emperor."

To one side, the Jiazi Taisui God, Lord Yang of the Year Star[1], said, "It is the same with me. My master found it inconvenient to appear personally, so he sent me to lodge a complaint, saying that evil men must not be allowed to roam free beyond the law."

[1] "Jiazi" corresponds to the special combination of the first Stem and the first Branch in the Stem-Branch cycle, corresponding to previous stem and branch classifications e.g. yin-yang cycle appears in previous chapters, likely first year of the sexagenary cycle.

The ones bound tightly in the Lingxiao Hall were unexpectedly all deities, not a single immortal among them.

At this moment, the Grand White Star Lord hurried over. The old star lord was dressed all in snowy white, with white brows, white hair and a white beard. Cheerfully, he went to help everyone up and laughed, "You are responsible for divine duties. Why aren't you at your posts doing your work, and instead came to the Celestial Court to lodge complaints with the emperor? Get up, get up quickly! Someone, untie these fellow daoists!"

The golden-armored divine generals stepped forward and untied them.

The Grand White Star Lord kicked one of the divine generals and shouted, "We're all one family, who told you to tie them up? And you even made them kneel! Hurry up!"

Lord Yin of the Year Star, now freed, said, "Old Star Lord, we have been wronged. We beg the Great Celestial Venerable to redress our grievances!"

The Grand White Star Lord laughed and said, "The Great Celestial Venerable already knows why you've come. Rest assured, the Great Celestial Venerable has already sent people to investigate and will absolutely not show favoritism to anyone. If the criminal on the Immortal Slaying List really is from the heavenly soldier camps, the Great Celestial Venerable will certainly punish him severely without mercy!"

He chuckled and said, "Everyone, you are all deities. Why bother meddling in the affairs of immortals? Immortals aren't under our Celestial Court's jurisdiction anyway. They're making a fuss about establishing their own Immortal Court, living separately from us as a divided household."

His tone carried a hint of complaint, and it was impossible to tell whether he was sincere or feigning it.

Lord Yin of the Year Star said, "Entrusted by our masters, we had no choice but to do this."

"Masters? That's also a matter from more than three hundred thousand years ago. In three hundred thousand years, how many things have happened?"

The Grand White Star Lord laughed and said, "You've come, done your best to show your good intentions, so go back now. Regarding this matter, the Great Celestial Venerable will give you an explanation."

Everyone withdrew one after another.

The Grand White Star Lord bade them farewell and ran all the way to the Eastern Heavenly Palace.

The Eastern Heavenly Palace was the residence of the Eastern Prince. The Grand White Star Lord knocked on the door. Dao Attendant Jingshu opened it, and seeing it was him, quickly said, "Star Lord, what business brings you this time?"

The Grand White Star Lord laughed and said, "Nothing too important. It's just that the Great Celestial Venerable wishes to see the Eastern Prince."

Dao Attendant Jingshu quickly went to invite the Eastern Prince. When the Eastern Prince arrived, he asked, "Fellow daoist, what does the Great Celestial Venerable wish to see me about?"

The Grand White Star Lord said, "Isn't it still about the Immortal Slaying List? They've invited deities from the Celestial Court to come and discuss the matter, and it's already caused a scene at the Lingxiao Treasure Hall. The Great Celestial Venerable avoided seeing them, saying he would give them an explanation. Now the Great Celestial Venerable has sent me to invite you over to discuss how to give that explanation."

The Eastern Prince's heart skipped a beat. He followed him there, paid respects to the Great Celestial Venerable, and the two discussed for a long time.

When the Eastern Prince returned, he said to Dao Attendant Jingshu, "Go and invite Chen Shi here."

Dao Attendant Jingshu hurried to invite Chen Shi. The Eastern Prince rubbed his temples. In the past, although he had found Chen Shi's affairs troublesome, he still had ways to solve them. Now it was a genuine, solid headache.

After a long while, Dao Attendant Jingshu returned and said, "Chen Shi is not at the heavenly soldier camps. I was told he went out with a heavenly soldier named Jiang Guo."

"Not at the heavenly soldier camps?"

The Eastern Prince's heart sank. "This is bad! The purpose of their visit this time is precisely to force him to leave the Celestial Court. And now, he's gone and run off on his own!"

Dao Attendant Jingshu asked, "Master, did you and the Great Celestial Venerable come up with anything from your discussion?"

The Eastern Prince said irritably, "What discussion? It was just the Great Celestial Venerable using his power to bully me, telling me to think of a solution. It's inconvenient for him to appear, so he makes me step forward. I was thinking of taking Chen Shi as my disciple, which might allow Chen Shi to avoid this calamity. How hateful, how could Chen Shi poke such a huge hole?"

He was so angry his teeth itched.

The Eastern Prince's high regard for Chen Shi was actually at the Great Celestial Venerable's behest. The Celestial Strategy was imprinted in Chen Shi's mind, and the Great Celestial Venerable absolutely had to protect Chen Shi. Since it was inconvenient for him to appear personally, he had the Eastern Prince step forward.

He had originally thought it was a simple matter, but never expected that Chen Shi was actually the second-ranked madman on the Immortal Slaying List, in league with the first-ranked Black Pot.

By the time he realized this, the entire Celestial Court knew he was Chen Shi's backer.

Originally, as long as Chen Shi stayed obediently in the Celestial Court, there would be no great problem. But Chen Shi had to run out and kill so many immortals in the mysterious yellow sea, to the point that nearly half of the aggrieved parties died, rising from second on the Immortal Slaying List to first.

These aggrieved parties did not have particularly great abilities, but they often had backgrounds, coming from prestigious immortal families, and the powers behind them were interwoven and complex, spanning both Buddhist and Daoist factions.

Even if the Eastern Prince was the First Immortal, he did not wish to provoke them.

Even the Great Celestial Venerable had to give them a fair amount of face.

This time, arranging for Celestial Court deities to lodge complaints with the emperor was their doing. Only by the foremost of male immortals taking Chen Shi as a disciple could this calamity be resolved. At that time, Chen Shi's seniority would be extremely high, and since he followed by the Eastern Prince's side learning skills, anyone wanting to move against Chen Shi would have to weigh the consequences.

But unexpectedly, Chen Shi had run off again!

"Running out at a time like this, isn't that walking straight to his death?"

The Eastern Prince asked, "This heavenly soldier named Jiang Guo, what is his background?"

Dao Attendant Jingshu shook his head and said, "I don't know."

The Eastern Prince waved his hand and said, "Go have the Tianji Scholar from Tianji Camp investigate."

Dao Attendant Jingshu accepted the order and went to the Mansion of Tianji. After a long while again, Dao Attendant Jingshu returned and said, "Jiang Guo is a disciple of Golden Turtle Island, out for training. During the Clay Bodhisattva case last time, Jiang Guo was brought to the heavenly soldier camps by Chen Shi."

The Eastern Prince's body trembled slightly: "A disciple of Golden Turtle Island? How did he get tangled up with Golden Turtle Island?"

Dao Attendant Jingshu also did not know the reason.

The Eastern Prince let out a breath of turbid air and muttered to himself, "Him going to Golden Turtle Island does count as a way out. It's just that Golden Turtle Island's reputation isn't very good, and moreover Golden Turtle Island has feuds with those powers..."

His face showed difficulty.

As the foremost of male immortals, commanding all male immortals under heaven, the Eastern Prince well knew how notorious Golden Turtle Island's reputation was.

Back in the war to destroy Shang, both sides had killed until their eyes were red, wishing they could dig up each other's roots.

Golden Turtle Island was defeated, its disciples suffered heavy casualties, and its lineage was nearly wiped out. It was only afterward that Lord Tongtian transformed into Master and spread teachings, coming to ruin the Daoist sect's inheritance and seize the ancestral court's fortune.

Since then, the ancestral court's Confucianism flourished greatly, suppressing Daoist learning and seizing the Three Purities' foundation. Later there were rumors that it was precisely for this reason that the Three Purities opened the Earth Immortal Realm, migrating the Celestial Court to the Earth Immortal Realm, severing ties with the ancestral court and opening up a larger territory.

"Getting tangled up with Golden Turtle Island, I'm afraid there will be suffering to endure."

The Eastern Prince worried inwardly, "They probably still don't know they've already been targeted. Whether they can even return to Golden Turtle Island is hard to say."

Chen Shi and Jiang Guo sat on the star raft, with the Profound Heaven Extreme Radiance howling past on both sides.

Black Pot lay by the side of the boat, its dog head sticking out to meet the Profound Heaven Extreme Radiance. It cultivated the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection and the Immortal Art of Immortality, cultivating both immortal and demonic paths. Its fleshly body grew stronger and stronger, far more powerful than Chen Shi's. The Profound Heaven Extreme Radiance struck the dog's head, flowing with luminous color, yet it was not injured at all.

Black Pot grew even more excited, leaning half its body out, tongue hanging out far, using the Profound Heaven Extreme Radiance to temper its body.

"This Black Pot fellow, his fleshly body is too strong." Chen Shi was full of envy.

Though they both cultivated the Immortal Art of Immortality, Chen Shi's progress was far inferior to Black Pot's. This was because Black Pot's fleshly body was innately powerful, and its rate of progress was also fast. But when it came to techniques like the Primordial Chaos Sword Scripture and the Primordial Chaos Yin Yang Dao Scripture, Black Pot was far inferior to him.

Jiang Guo continued to collect the Profound Heaven Extreme Radiance, unwilling to give up this opportunity to temper his sword qi.

Last time he had collected quite a bit of Profound Heaven Extreme Radiance and refined it into his sword qi, greatly increasing its power.

This time he had already cultivated to the True Immortal Realm, stepping into the first level of the True Immortal Realm's Dao Realm, Tai Huang Huang Zeng Heaven. His cultivation had greatly increased, and he could collect the Profound Heaven Extreme Radiance in greater quantity and faster than before.

Chen Shi sized up this senior martial brother from Golden Turtle Island. Jiang Guo still wore the same clothes as before, washed so much they had turned white. On his feet were still straw sandals, and atop his head was still a willow-wood hairpin.

He did not even have a single decorative jade pendant on his body. His clothes were plain cloth, embroidered with no patterns at all.

Despite being a heavenly soldier in the Celestial Court and having a considerable salary, he was still the same as before, not caring at all about his clothing and adornments.

He was a pure person, with a clean heart, unstained by anything.

Chen Shi's admiration for Jiang Guo increased a few more degrees. Earlier he had promised Jiang Guo that when Jiang Guo became a True Immortal, he would go with him to Golden Turtle Island. Now that Grandpa had gone to the Immortal Court, and Jiang Guo had achieved True Immortal, Chen Shi would fulfill his promise.

Jiang Guo collected enough Profound Heaven Extreme Radiance and returned to Chen Shi's side, saying, "Junior brother, your attainment in the Primordial Chaos Sword Scripture and Primordial Chaos Dao Scripture is still somewhat lacking. Although it's enough to become a disciple of Golden Turtle Island, wanting to obtain a higher inheritance will probably still be somewhat difficult."

Chen Shi said, "I can still only manifest sixty-four strands of sword qi right now. Wanting to advance further is fraught with difficulties. Is there anything senior brother can teach me?"

Jiang Guo said, "It mainly lies in the Primordial Chaos Dao Scripture. Your attainment in the sword scripture can already nourish the dao scripture. Logically speaking, your progress in the dao scripture should also be great, but your mind is not pure. Cultivating other techniques at the same time has caused your attainment in the dao scripture to stagnate. If you could abandon the other techniques, your progress in the dao scripture would surely advance by leaps and bounds. When the dao scripture improves, the sword scripture's power grows stronger, and you can advance another step."

Chen Shi suddenly understood. These past days he had indeed been too distracted.

He was simultaneously cultivating the Primordial Chaos Yin Yang Dao Scripture, the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection, and the Profound Yin Nine Heaven Art.

Cultivating three techniques at once meant the energy he could devote to the Primordial Chaos Dao Scripture was limited. Moreover, during this period he had also been comprehending the mysterious yellow Dao patterns, with most of his energy placed on that matter, so the energy left for the Primordial Chaos Dao Scripture was even less.

The fact that he could simultaneously command sixty-four strands of sword qi actually relied on the Celestial Strategy and the Fulong Village medicinal pills. His own intellect had not been utilized much at all.

"On the way to Golden Turtle Island, if you don't have a major breakthrough, I'm afraid it will be very hard to obtain a profound inheritance," Jiang Guo said.

Chen Shi frowned slightly. He had always been proud of being Master's heir, so naturally he could not tolerate being unable to obtain a profound inheritance. However, Golden Turtle Island's test was the Primordial Chaos Dao Scripture and the Primordial Chaos Sword Scripture, and this set of methods was very difficult to greatly improve in a short time.

"Even if I want to cultivate to True Immortal, there's no time. Unless..."

His eyes suddenly lit up, and he thought, "Unless I can cultivate the ninth stance of the sword scripture!"

The ninth stance of the Primordial Chaos Sword Scripture: Hongmeng Cleaves Apart, Xuanhuang Divides and Separates!

Previously, Chen Shi had been utterly ignorant of this move. Even with the Celestial Strategy and the Fulong Village medicinal pills, he could not comprehend the slightest bit of this move.

But after the journey to the mysterious yellow sea, he obtained the mysterious yellow Dao patterns transmitted by Her Ladyship, and his understanding of this move was no longer a complete blank.

The Xuanhuang Divides and Separates in the sword scripture did not escape the mysteries contained within Houtu Huangdiqi's mysterious yellow Dao patterns. The only difficulty was the Hongmeng Cleaves Apart!

"If I can comprehend this sword, I wonder if I can establish myself on Golden Turtle Island?"

He devoted himself to comprehending the ninth stance. Just as he was deeply immersed, the star path suddenly shook violently, and the star raft emitted a harsh creaking sound, tilting crookedly as if struck by an impact. The Profound Heaven Extreme Radiance immediately cut off, and the star raft gradually slowed down.

Chen Shi was jolted awake as well. Together with the other passengers on the star raft, he looked forward, and could not help but be dumbstruck.

Among the enormous stars, a majestic deity rose slowly, swinging his sword to cut off the star path and block their way.

That deity had three heads and six arms, with a vertical eye growing from between his brows. His hair billowed and floated upward like a red waterfall. Boundless starlight surged in from all directions, converging upon him, making his body more dazzling than the sun!