Chapter 632: Escort

"Lord Yin of the Year Star is still formidable. He wounded me. He was originally no match for me, but after being enfeoffed as the Taisui God, his divine post is higher than mine. After more than three hundred thousand years of cultivation, his divine power far exceeds mine. If he were to use his sect's magic treasures, I would find it very hard to survive against him."

Lord Guchen Star spoke with considerable emotion, "After becoming a deity, your cultivation level no longer depends on your personal aptitude and comprehension, but on the rank of your divine post. A higher divine post means more incense offerings, and greater strength. Heh, everything was decided long ago. This Celestial Court is nothing but a game played by the Three Purities, and my Tongtian lineage is nothing more than a chess piece to be manipulated at will in that game."

These words were treasonous. After all, the current Celestial Court was single-handedly brought about by the Three Purities, and the Earth Immortal Realm was also opened up by the Three Purities. Fortunately, there were no outsiders present.

"Lord Yin of the Year Star was also entrusted by someone, which is why he had no choice but to come. He had no intention of fighting me to the death."

Lord Guchen Star continued, "After this battle, he can go back and report."

Chen Shi asked, "I heard you call him 'Your Highness' earlier, senior brother. What is the background of this Lord Yin of the Year Star?"

Lord Guchen Star said, "He was originally the Crown Prince of Great Shang. King Zhou wanted to kill him, but he escaped and became a disciple of Guangchengzi. Later he rebelled and returned to Great Shang, and in the end died a miserable death. He was a pitiful man, controlled by the ways of the world, never free. I have a divine post, so I cannot stay long."

He rose into the air, transforming into a beam of starlight that shot away, disappearing without a trace. His speed was astonishing.

His voice came from afar, "There will surely be other deities who want to harm you, but rest assured, I have asked a few helpers for you. Heh heh, my Golden Turtle Island is finally about to flourish. In just five hundred years, we have gained another junior brother. I would like to see who has the ability..."

Lord Guchen Star's voice faded, and Chen Shi did not hear what he said afterward.

The star raft continued to sail. The star region around them grew increasingly desolate. Before, a thousand stars could be seen on the sky canopy; now there were scarcely any.

They arrived at a star gate and docked in its harbor.

Jiang Guo said, "There is no star raft that goes directly to Golden Turtle Island. We must transfer to another star raft and head to Penglai West."

Not long after, they boarded another star raft and continued their journey.

This star raft had only a dozen or so passengers.

The star region ahead was even more desolate, with so few stars that one could only see one or two occasionally.

Even the Profound Heaven Extreme Radiance outside the ship had grown faint now, and Black Pot also retracted his head, no longer borrowing the Profound Heaven Extreme Radiance to temper his flesh and blood.

"Black Pot, if your flesh and blood were strong enough, I could store you in the sword-nurturing gourd and use the mysterious yellow sword qi inside to temper your body," Chen Shi coaxed.

Black Pot wore a look that said he had long since seen through Chen Shi.

At that moment, many more stars appeared in the sky, drawing the attention of the other passengers. Someone exclaimed in shock, "These stars are moving!"

Chen Shi looked up and saw that in the starry sky, stars were rapidly moving, so fast that even the star raft could not match their speed!

"It's the other forces from the Celestial Court hunting me!"

Chen Shi's heart pounded violently. He focused his gaze, trying to discern what those stars actually were, but the distance was too great to see clearly.

His heart stirred slightly. He activated the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection and sensed the Ancient Star Region, and immediately sensed the starlight contained within those distant stars!

"Five Grains Star! Jiazi Taisui! And countless grain gods and year gods!"

Chen Shi sensed carefully, and suddenly an expression of shock appeared on his face. He turned to look at the dark starry sky ahead of the star raft.

He sensed that within that darkness was hidden an untold amount of brilliant starlight, its Dao exceptionally fierce and malevolent!

But that place was clearly just darkness.

The myriad grain gods and year gods led by the Five Grains Star Lord and the Jiazi Taisui Star Lord, transformed into starlight, moved at high speed toward the star raft. At the speed of starlight, in another moment they would collide with the star raft.

The passengers on the star raft were already crying out in alarm, running about like headless flies, trying to find somewhere to hide.

At that moment, in the dark starry sky, suddenly stars lit up across the heavens, in an instant transforming the dark starry sky into a brilliant, resplendent expanse, blocking that starlight pursuing the star raft!

Those stars immediately halted in the night sky, as if a wall of bronze and iron stood before them, impossible to cross.

The star raft howled onward, growing more and more distant.

Chen Shi looked back and saw that resplendent starry sky rapidly receding, disappearing from his vision.

He thought silently to himself, "Those stars that blocked the pursuers, are they also senior brothers from my Golden Turtle Island?"

In that starry sky, Yang Ren, the Jiazi Taisui Lord Yang Sui Lord, his face grim, stood shoulder to shoulder with the Five Grains Star Lord Yin Hong, Lord Yin Star, with a great army of year gods and grain gods behind them. Looking at the army of god-demons before them, like a great wall, both men felt a faint sense of trepidation.

On the opposite side, in the celestial camp, plague banners rose one after another. Beneath the banners stood plague gods, one after another, plague qi filling the air, each one fierce and malevolent, blocking their path.

From the center of this camp, a thunderclap suddenly sounded, followed by a great roll of drums. Six plague divine envoys raised their banners, arrayed to the left and right. In the center, an altar rose. Plague Emperor Lü Yue, the Haotian Great Emperor of Plague, sat upon the altar, his expression genial, and laughed, "Fellow Daoists, it has been quite some time. I never expected to meet you here. Where are you two headed?"

Lord Yang of the Year Star said, "We two are not on duty. We merely had idle thoughts and decided to travel about. Where is the Plague Emperor headed?"

The Plague Emperor laughed, "There was a sudden plague in the Three Continents. I led my boys to quell the plague and accumulate merit. Now that the plague is quelled and I have returned, I happen to meet you two. Since you two fellow Daoists are traveling about with no particular destination, why not come to my Plague Ministry as guests for a few days?"

Lord Yang of the Year Star said, "Many thanks for your kind offer, fellow Daoist, but..."

Before he could finish, the Plague Emperor had already risen from the altar and in a few steps arrived at his side, taking his hand, and laughed, "Why does Fellow Daoist Yang decline?"

Lord Yang of the Year Star had no choice. He shot a glance at Lord Yin Star and said, "Very well, I shall be a guest for a few days. Your Highness, if you have matters to attend to, go on ahead."

Lord Yin Star was just about to leave, but the Plague Ministry deities had already surrounded him in the center, and he could not leave either.

The Plague Emperor laughed, "No need for either of you to decline. Stay a few days and we shall speak further." With that, he seized the two of them and led his troops away.

Chen Shi stood on the star raft, looking around. He saw that the starry sky was growing quieter and quieter. Occasionally, a rapidly flying beam of starlight would appear in the starry sky. Each time this happened, the originally pitch-black starry sky would suddenly blaze with light, and a myriad stars would appear, blocking that starlight.

Chen Shi was full of alarm and doubt. Along this journey, they had actually encountered several similar phenomena!

"What on earth is happening in the starry sky?" he thought to himself.

Thunder Ministry.

Lord Deng Tianjun led more than a dozen great generals of the Thunder Ministry, all in full armor, hurrying to the Divine Empyrean Jade Manor to see the Heavenly Lord of Universal Transformation of Thunder Sounds Responding to the Origin of the Nine Heavens. He bowed slightly and said, "Reporting to the Heavenly Lord, we have already gone to Penglai West and intercepted the pursuers, escorting the Golden Turtle Island disciples for a stretch."

The Heavenly Lord of Universal Transformation of Thunder Sounds Responding to the Origin of the Nine Heavens nodded lightly and said, "Understood. Go down and rest."

Lord Deng Tianjun acknowledged the order and led his men down to rest.

The Heavenly Lord's vertical brow-eye slowly opened, taking in the entire scene of the star raft's advance. He said in a low voice, "Golden Turtle Island's fourth-generation disciple is about to gain another member? This one, how difficult. To this day, they still do not give us a way to live..."

Fire Ministry.

In the south, the Fire Virtue Star Lord of the Three Qi, Luo Xuan, led the many god-demons of the Fire Ministry back, still unable to dispel his anger. He said in a low voice, "The Three Purities lineage truly goes too far. They do not intend to leave even a single sprout of my Golden Turtle Island! Do they intend to pull the grass up by the roots?"

...

This journey seemed peaceful on the surface, but was in truth thrilling. Many battles took place only in the starry sky, transformed into flickering stars, drawing no attention.

The star raft Chen Shi was on paused slightly and docked within a star gate.

Jiang Guo jumped down from the star raft and said, "Junior brother, this is Penglai West. It is rather desolate. The Heavenly River is cut off here. Without a star raft, we still have a long way to walk before we reach Golden Turtle Island."

Chen Shi and Black Pot also jumped off the star raft. Chen Shi wondered, "Why is this place called Penglai West?"

Jiang Guo said, "It is said that it was named Penglai West to commemorate the Penglai Immortal Island of the ancestral court. When the Three Purities opened up the Earth Immortal Realm, Penglai West was opened up at that time. Because this place has an immortal island, a rare Jade Purity sacred ground, it was named Penglai West."

Chen Shi looked around. He saw that the Penglai West ferry was a rather remote ferry in the Earth Immortal Realm. Star gates were all established on the Heavenly River's routes. This place belonged to the end of a tributary of the Heavenly River, a place few people visited.

The Heavenly River was the most important waterway in the Earth Immortal Realm, with an extremely vast basin. Its tributaries were well-developed, with thousands of tributaries extending into one mysterious yellow sea world after another. Some of those worlds had also established ferries, but even in those worlds, the ferries saw far more traffic than this place.

"Isn't Penglai West a Jade Purity sacred ground? How did it become so desolate?" Chen Shi asked, puzzled.

Jiang Guo said, "It was originally very prosperous. Later, there was a great demon outbreak. Many immortals died, and the sacred ground was polluted, so it became desolate. The elders of our Golden Turtle Island saw that no one wanted this place, so they moved Golden Turtle Island here."

Hearing this, Chen Shi thought to himself, "It seems Golden Turtle Island's days are not easy either. They can only pick up the scraps others do not want."

Outside the Penglai West ferry was an immortal city. The immortal city floated in the air, ten thousand ren tall, forged from black iron, black throughout. Below, chains connected it to the mountain range, tethering the iron city.

The surface of the iron city gave off a dark red glow. Even from afar, one could smell the stench of iron and blood.

Chen Shi looked carefully. On its surface, carved in relief, were various strange Great Dao patterns.

On the outer walls of the entire immortal city, such relief-carved Great Dao patterns were everywhere, and then traced over with the blood of strange beasts, allowing blood bearing demonic nature to seep into the iron city!

Jiang Guo led Chen Shi and Black Pot past it. They drew closer and closer to the iron city.

Chen Shi noticed that many immortals were peering out from atop the iron city, looking down. Each one had an extremely powerful aura that made one's heart tremble.

The immortals guarding this iron city were at minimum True Immortal Realm immortals!

Chen Shi surveyed his surroundings. He saw that Penglai West was utterly desolate. As far as the eye could see, it was hard to find any fairy mountains or blessed lands.

Moreover, he also sensed that many places in Penglai West were thick with demonic miasma, clearly extremely dangerous.

He looked into the distance. Far away was a mass of dark gloom, occasionally swept by great black winds that shook the earth and mountains, and within the black wind burst forth waves of thunder, making the black windstorm look like a burning coal ball, truly frightening.

Chen Shi felt that this place's demonic path was gradually flourishing, and he could not help but feel a sense of familiarity.

"This place is suitable for my cultivation," he thought to himself.

The two men and one dog walked onward. Chen Shi felt pairs of eyes on his back. He turned to look and saw that atop the black iron city, the immortals' faces could not be seen clearly, but their eyes gave off a dim glow, very conspicuous, like a row of floating points of light in the darkness.

"Senior brother Jiang, why would there be such an army of immortals here?"

Chen Shi asked, "Could it be to suppress the great demon of this place?"

Jiang Guo shook his head. "It is to guard against our Golden Turtle Island."

Chen Shi's heart jolted. He felt uneasy. He thought that Golden Turtle Island was probably not any immortal sacred ground, but rather a pirate ship watched by countless people!

They continued onward. Along the way, they could see many ruined walls and broken structures. It was clear that this place had once been extremely prosperous. It was only a great demon outbreak that caused the once-fine sacred ground to be destroyed, and Penglai West to become a place few people visited.

Every so often, another similar black iron immortal city could be seen floating in the air. Immortal cities with immortals stationed on them. Upon seeing them, the immortals grew very tense and stared hard at them.

"Was it really necessary to use so many immortals to monitor Golden Turtle Island?" Chen Shi could not help shaking his head.

At that moment, Jiang Guo stopped and looked at the black windstorm ahead. He said, "We will walk. After the wind passes, we will fly to Golden Turtle Island."

The two men and one dog landed. Jiang Guo led them in rapid travel. They saw the wind blowing ever more fiercely. Gradually, all around them was deafening roaring, the earth and mountains shaking, extremely terrifying.

The two men and one dog were blown so that they could not keep their footing. Jiang Guo shouted loudly, "The black-haired wind is too strong! Let us take shelter in our Dao Realms first and come out when it is safe!"

He summoned his Dao Realm and was the first to take shelter within it.

Chen Shi also summoned his own Dao Realm, the demonic domain in the well, and was about to hide within it when he suddenly saw massive limbs tumbling and sweeping past in the black wind, like severed limbs.

He did not have time to look closely. He took Black Pot into the demonic domain in the well and looked back. He saw countless severed limbs rolling in the wind, howling past.

Suddenly, a severed limb grabbed the wall of the well. It thrust out half a thin, elongated head. That head had been sliced in half by something, leaving only half, and it was impossible to tell what race it belonged to. It struggled to burrow into the well, trying to escape the black wind.

Chen Shi's heart pounded wildly. He activated the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade and slashed at that thin, elongated head. With a great clang, that thin, elongated head was completely unharmed, and it rebounded the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade.

Chen Shi raised the white-bone long whip. The scorpion hook at its end jabbed into that thin, elongated head with a ding. That thin, elongated head felt pain, let go, and was immediately swept up by the black wind, vanishing without a trace.

Only then did Chen Shi breathe a sigh of relief. He looked outside the well. He saw countless severed limbs, carried by the black wind, striking the black iron city not far away, clanging loudly.

From his angle, he could just take in the black iron city within the storm. The severed limbs carried tremendous power, shaking the city so that it swayed unsteadily, constantly pulling taut the chains tethering the iron city, as if about to break free of the chains' bindings!

Within the black windstorm, the black iron city suddenly blazed with light. The Dao patterns on its four walls were activated, like luminous jiao dragons, flying around the iron city. The most terrifying thing was the underside of the black iron city. Countless dense Dao patterns appeared, bird-seal and insect script, complex and profound!

"The underside of the black iron immortal city looks like a great seal, only this seal is truly too large, too complex and mysterious!"

He had just thought this when he saw countless limbs fall one after another, suppressed by the immortal city.

But more things in the black wind were blown over, crashing into the immortal city, shaking it endlessly, ready at any moment to be broken through by the black wind.

After a long time, this black-haired wind finally gradually weakened, and the surroundings slowly returned to clarity.

Chen Shi came out from the demonic domain in the well and waited a moment. Jiang Guo also came out from his own Dao Realm. The two continued onward. After flying for several days, they saw ahead a great marsh, with broken mountain peaks like islands, dotted throughout the marsh.

"This place was originally sea. Only after the great demon outbreak did it become like this."

Jiang Guo quickened his pace. "Our Golden Turtle Island is right ahead!"

Chen Shi followed him. The two hurried on, and after another half day, a great marsh and fairy mountains came into view.

Golden Turtle Island had finally arrived.