Chapter 456: Empress of Earth Temple
Chen Shi and Chen Tang's hearts shook violently at the sight.
The landmasses and continents suspended and churning within the primordial qi in the great hall—could they be the Earth Immortal Realm written on the couplet?
Was it possible that the Empress of Earth did not oversee childbirth, reproduction, death, and reincarnation on the Western Ox New Continent, but rather the countless continents and landmasses in the Sea of Darkness?
Chen Shi studied the scene carefully and finally found the stele standing in front of the temple.
The stele towered into the clouds, its flowing light connected to the temple behind it.
The willow tree where Scholar Zhu had hanged himself had now transformed into a colossal tree that reached the heavens and the earth, standing guard before the temple, protecting this ancient shrine.
Just then, Scholar Zhu flew out from the small temple behind Chen Shi's head, gazed up at this scene, and murmured, "Can I still hang on it?"
Chen Shi shook his head. "Probably not. Having a hanged ghost outside the Empress of Earth Temple is just too inauspicious."
Scholar Zhu earnestly corrected him, saying, "I'm a Ghost Immortal."
"That's still a ghost," Chen Shi said.
Jue Yangzi also flew out, staring at this temple still in formation, and exclaimed, "The Empress of Earth. Back when the True King first came to the Western Ox New Continent, the yin and yang realms were not at peace. Demons, ghosts, and monsters could freely enter and leave both realms, causing havoc in the human world. So the True King invited a manifestation of Her Ladyship to completely separate the yin and yang realms, establishing order among gods, humans, and ghosts! I heard that this deity is a pre-Qin era god, ancient in origin, with boundless divine power."
Chen Tang looked at Jue Yangzi, his heart filled with suspicion and uncertainty. "Who is this man? Why does he fly out of Little Ten's temple? How does he know about the True King's era?"
Regarding the True King's era, many stories were mere rumors and legends, some true and some false, but always more false than true.
Little Duan Immortal flew out from another small temple, shaking her head. "The worship of the Empress of Earth existed long before the Great Shang. This deity's origins are far more ancient than you know, traceable back to the Xia, Yu, Tang, Xie, and Xian ancient eras. She is a deity of immeasurable divine power. Where there is earth, life, and the underworld, there is worship of the Empress of Earth."
Chen Shi gazed at the temple and murmured, "Godmother is this powerful?"
Little Duan Immortal said, "From the Yu Dynasty to the Great Shang, and from the Great Shang to the Ming Dynasty, the time spans are nearly equal. Not to mention the even more ancient eras before. I've also heard that the Empress of Earth has an ox-headed, human-bodied, three-eyed monster in the underworld called Tubo, whose long horns growing from its head are the Nine-Bend Yellow Spring, formed from the world of the dead."
Chen Shi could no longer imagine how magnificent a sight that must be.
Chen Tang's mind was filled with confusion. His daughter-in-law seemed to know far too much.
This adopted daughter-in-law, was she really only a few years older than Chen Shi?
Little Duan Immortal looked at Chen Shi seriously and said, "An existence like that could never recognize you as an adopted son."
Chen Shi smiled. "What we call Godmother isn't a real godmother; it's a respectful title for a deity."
Little Duan Immortal only half-understood this custom. She had seen villagers worshiping godmothers before, but she didn't grasp the deeper meaning behind it.
Chen Shi explained the whole story of worshiping a godmother, saying, "When villagers worship a godmother, they often hope the village deity will protect their safety, prevent evil spirits from eating them, and offer incense and sacrifices to the godmother. The godmother, in turn, provides protection. It's a reciprocal relationship between the godmother and the villagers."
Little Duan Immortal understood. "So you're just worshipping gods, praying for divine blessings."
Chen Shi smiled. "The relationship is a bit closer than that. When you worship a god, the god may not necessarily answer your prayers. But when you worship a godmother, the godmother might give her life for you, fighting against evil spirits."
Little Duan Immortal shook her head. What a strange tradition.
Just then, Scholar Zhu arrived at the old willow tree. From beneath the willow emerged an old Daoist in green robes who blocked his path. The two were talking about something.
Chen Shi and Little Duan Immortal walked over and saw that Scholar Zhu was pleading with the old Daoist to let him hang on the willow tree once more, but the old Daoist kept shaking his head.
Scholar Zhu said angrily, "I've been dead for over a thousand years, and I've been hanging on this tree all that time! For over a thousand years, no one ever asked me about it! This is my home! What right do you have to forbid me?"
The old Daoist said helplessly, "I am the Old Willow Tree."
Scholar Zhu stared at him wide-eyed, then tried to tie the noose around his neck onto him.
The old Daoist had reached his limit. He raised his hand and pointed. A willow branch descended from the sky, wrapped around Scholar Zhu with a *shua* sound, binding him tightly, and hoisted him up.
Scholar Zhu struggled with all his might but couldn't break free.
His body rapidly grew, in an instant swelling to thousands of feet tall, like a god-demon.
The willow branch changed with him, thickening like a flood dragon, still holding him fast.
Scholar Zhu rapidly shrank, and the willow branch thinned as well, still binding him tightly.
Scholar Zhu couldn't struggle free, so he could only obediently hang on the tree.
Chen Shi looked up with concern. The old Daoist laughed and said, "Young Master Chen, don't worry. Old me won't make things hard for him. But his shameless insistence on hanging on me is truly unsightly. In the past, it was fine, but now that Her Ladyship is about to revive, I can't allow his nonsense."
Though he treated Scholar Zhu poorly, he showed considerable respect to Chen Shi.
Up in the tree, Scholar Zhu, though unable to break free, rolled his eyes. He activated the noose around his neck, and the rope moved like a spirit snake, automatically wrapping around the willow branch and tightening continuously.
Scholar Zhu was comfortably strangled, stuck out his long tongue, and looked completely satisfied.
Chen Shi withdrew his gaze and thought to himself, "Master spent only a few decades as a human, but over a thousand years as a ghost. Having a few ghostly hobbies is normal."
"How should I address you, Daoist brother?" Chen Shi asked.
"Please don't be formal. Old me takes 'Willow' as my surname, with no given name originally. You may call me Daoist Willow."
Chen Shi smiled. "Daoist Willow, don't call me Young Master. Just call me by my name, or Top Scholar Chen. Brother, when will my Godmother revive?"
Daoist Willow said, "I don't know that either."
Chen Shi looked toward the temple behind the stele. The radiant light piled layer upon layer. The chants from the gods and the extraordinary power flowed unceasingly toward this place, making the temple appear increasingly real.
The structure of this temple was the same as the initial form of the small temple behind Chen Shi's head—only one hall, indicating that only a single deity was enshrined here.
"Can I go in and take a look?" Chen Shi asked.
Daoist Willow smiled. "Outsiders cannot, but Top Scholar Chen certainly may. However, the Her Ladyship's temple has not yet formed into a real existence, so going inside would be useless."
Chen Shi thanked him and walked toward the temple.
Chen Tang followed behind Chen Shi, also about to enter the temple. Daoist Willow raised his hand, shaking his head. "Outsiders cannot."
Chen Tang blinked. "I am Top Scholar Chen's father!"
Daoist Willow only shook his head. "Outsider. Cannot."
Chen Tang had no choice but to stay there.
Chen Shi walked into the Empress of Earth Temple. Around him, radiant light in streaks shone brilliantly. Within the light, bird-seal and insect scripts swirled continuously. The chants of the gods from within the light grew even more grand and loud, shaking his mind into drowsiness and making his steps feel unsteady.
He walked through the light still in formation. The temple suddenly seemed to expand, stretching endlessly before him.
Beside him, a child was born, an infant's first cry sounded. The infant grew rapidly, becoming an adult in an instant, transforming into a beautiful woman. She married, became pregnant, gave birth, then rapidly aged, until finally her soul returned to the underworld, then reincarnated, beginning a new life.
And all around him, countless people were repeating this process!
But some people in their second life were no longer human, turning into other species—livestock, wild beasts, insects, ghosts and monsters, divine races, or dragons and phoenixes.
Countless living beings, all around him, were immersed in a vast cycle of life and death, arising and perishing, circling back again and again, endless and without pause.
This sight brought Chen Shi immense shock.
"Is my life the same? Like an ephemeral mayfly in this cycle, born at dawn and dying at dusk, arising and perishing without end? So, how can I break free from all this?"
He looked at the countless living beings around him, and suddenly, a profound sorrow welled up inside him.
What was the difference between such a life and an insect?
He waded through the boundless sea of reincarnation, passing through the lives of countless people, walking forward, gazing in confusion at the souls sinking and spinning pointlessly in this cycle.
Whether you were a king or a general, whether you held sway over the world, whether you were as rich as a country, whether your wisdom reached the heavens—none could escape the suffering of this cycle.
Just as he was losing sight of the meaning of life, suddenly, without intending to, he saw a soul vanish from the cycle!
Chen Shi froze.
"Where did that soul struggling in the cycle go?"
He was perplexed, and then inadvertently, he saw another soul disappear!
"Ascension! They've ascended! They've leaped out of the cycle!"
Chen Shi was overjoyed. Finally, he saw a glimmer of hope.
"No matter how hard it is, I will become an immortal, I will ascend, and escape the cycle!"
He walked forward, wading through this sea of reincarnation. He walked for an unknown amount of time before finally emerging from the sea and arriving before an ocean of primordial qi.
He looked out. Countless continents and landmasses floated on the surface of this ocean, and he couldn't tell which one was their Western Ox New Continent.
Chen Shi tried hard to distinguish them but still couldn't find the Western Ox New Continent, much less the Divine Continent.
This ocean formed from primordial qi was merely an apparition, not real.
Chen Shi continued forward, stepping on the ocean's surface, passing by continents of all shapes and sizes, walking toward the center of the sea.
There, a grand radiant light was descending from the sky, forming a lotus-shaped miniature shrine.
Presumably, the Empress of Earth was reviving there.
He walked for a long time before finally arriving at the place where the radiant light fell, reaching the lotus pedestal.
On the pedestal, within the light, there seemed to be a portal. It was as high as the heavens, but the opening was narrow, barely allowing one person to pass through.
Chen Shi looked into the portal. In a daze, it seemed as if he saw another vast world on the other side.
An empress in palace attire, with sleeves and ribbons fluttering, was walking toward this side from another world.
The road she walked was like a bridge of light connecting to this portal. Outside the bridge, the spacetime was twisted, with thunder and lightning flashing, a terrifying gloom.
Suddenly, a massive circular axe flew out from the darkness, spinning as it struck the bridge of light with a *crack*, severing the bridge!
Behind the portal, the bridge kept breaking apart. The empress swung her long sleeves, connecting the other end of the bridge to her sleeves, and flew toward this side.
Chen Shi's heart pounded. "Someone is trying to stop the Empress of Earth's manifestation from descending to the Western Ox New Continent!"