Chapter 586: Anomaly in the Great Dao
The two celestial gods drove the bi fang carriage in a frantic flight, escaping the Dao Ruins as if their lives depended on it. They dared not pause, racing onward for an untold distance until they finally reached a safe zone, and only then did they dare to slow down.
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Chen Shi, however, felt that the Dao Ruins were not dangerous at all. What was truly dangerous was the area outside the Dao Ruins.
Outside the Dao Ruins, the heavenly great Dao had decayed and withered, with demonic miasma, demonic energy, and immortal qi all jumbled together in chaos. One of the bi fang fairies had been grabbed and devoured by a corpse outside the Dao Ruins.
But once inside the Dao Ruins, everything was calm and tranquil, with not a single ripple.
Moreover, when he had just achieved Dao Unification, he hadn't sensed any aura of decay or corruption in the heavenly great Dao within the Dao Ruins. It was very peaceful. He couldn't understand what those two celestial gods were afraid of.
Still, when he had unified with the Dao of the Dao Ruins earlier, he had indeed felt something strange.
He had unified with ten thousand li of land, yet he hadn't encountered a single human, and even living creatures were pitifully scarce.
That place was completely barren and desolate.
"Could it be that because the Dao Realm is surrounded by treacherous lands, making it difficult to enter or exit, that's why it's so sparsely populated?" he wondered to himself.
After a long while, they finally returned to the Celestial Court and arrived at the West Heaven Expanse, where Chen Shi returned the golden mace.
King Li accepted the golden mace, pondered for a moment, and felt rather apologetic. He offered guidance: "Immortal Chen, the Dao Ruins are vast and rich in resources, but they're also somewhat dangerous. It's one of the few truly wild and untamed places in the Earth Immortal Realm. You must act with caution. As long as you don't leave your Dao Realm, there's no danger. But once you step outside it, it's hard to say."
Chen Shi thanked him.
"If you discover any anomaly in the great Dao within the Dao Ruins, report it to me as soon as possible."
King Li's expression turned somewhat grave. "What is called an anomaly in the great Dao is this: when you approach it, you'll find your own Dao techniques being twisted, producing abnormal phenomena. In the Dao Ruins, you should encounter this kind of phenomenon. When you do, you must not take it lightly. Be sure to inform me."
Chen Shi acknowledged the order and took his leave of King Li.
"Black Pot! Black Pot! Where has that dog run off to now?"
Chen Shi returned to the Celestial Way Residence and called out, but Black Pot wasn't home. He had probably gone off to find some disreputable friends.
Since arriving at the Celestial Court, Black Pot's circle of acquaintances had grown ever wider. He had practically become the Timely Rain of the Celestial Court, the Little Lord of Guests of the heavenly soldier camps, with friends all over the world. He often didn't come home.
"Better watch out that someone doesn't recognize you as the bandit leader on the Immortal Slaying List and chop off your head to claim the reward."
Chen Shi grumbled about his own brother, then brewed a pot of tea. He took a sip, then went to the courtyard, where he focused his mind and sensed his Dao Realm.
He was now at the Celestial Immortal Realm, and his Dao Realm could only be considered a small world. When he had unified with the Dao in the Dao Ruins, it had been a hasty unification. He hadn't had time to consolidate it before the two celestial gods had dragged him away. But fortunately, as long as the unification was complete, he could slowly consolidate it over time.
Chen Shi stood in the courtyard, slowly mobilizing his own Dao power, then suddenly lifted his foot and gently stamped it down.
"The great Dao divides into yin and yang!"
As he spoke softly, within the Dao Ruins, across a territory of ten thousand li, the yin and yang Dao power of heaven and earth was slowly mobilized. The two vital energies of yin and yang gathered in the sky, gradually forming a Taiji pattern.
Around Chen Shi's body, a Taiji diagram also emerged, but it was only a little over ten feet in size, while the Taiji diagram in the Dao Ruins was a full ten thousand li across.
As he activated his Dao techniques, the yin and yang vital energies above the Dao Ruins grew thicker and heavier, swirling like wind and clouds, black and white clearly separated.
Once the yin and yang vital energies were fully refined, Chen Shi slowly directed them.
"Kan and Li establish the cosmic order!"
Within the Taiji diagram around his body, between the yin and yang fish, the sun and moon rose up, passing through the diagram and gradually floating into the sky.
The Grand Yin and Grand Yang revolved around each other, weaving through the Taiji diagram, rising from one fish eye and leaping into the other.
At the same time, within the enormous Taiji diagram above the Dao Ruins, the eyes of the yin and yang fish transformed into the sun and moon. One radiated blazing fire energy, the other emanated pure moonlight, and the sun and moon revolved.
He let out a mighty shout, and around the outer edge of the Taiji diagram, the eight trigram patterns formed, then evolved into the sixty-four hexagram zones, guarding the Taiji diagram in a ring.
"Dragon and tiger give birth to ten thousand phenomena, the Mysterious Pearl illuminates the eight wilds!"
Within the Dao Ruins, around the outer edge of the yin-yang Taiji diagram, sixty-four variations immediately manifested: Heaven-Earth Variation, Mountain-Marsh Variation, Water-Fire Variation, Wind-Thunder Variation, and many others.
Chen Shi refined the sun and moon, and as the Grand Yin and Grand Yang interweaved with each other's radiance, the sixty-four hexagram zones continuously shifted, evolving step by step. Vast, surging vitality burst forth from the union of yin and yang, transforming into all things, making this ten-thousand-li territory brim with life and vigor.
"Thunder awakens the Kun gate, Li Fire hides within the Qian cauldron!"
Chen Shi's footwork shifted, following the changes of the sixty-four hexagrams.
"Creation is but one vital breath, Primordial Chaos is the home of Dao!"
In the sky of his Dao Realm, wind and clouds stirred with thunder, lightning transformed into thunder-fire. Heaven and earth became the furnace, creation the artisan, yin and yang the charcoal, and the ten thousand things the copper being forged—transforming heaven and earth.
Suddenly, all the visions unified, and the great Dao of this entire Dao Realm was completely absorbed into the Yin-Yang Fusion.
In the sky, the radiant light of the great Dao sparkled like a river of stars.
Chen Shi let out a long breath. Only now was the Dao Realm in the Dao Ruins truly stabilized.
Just at that moment, he suddenly sensed an abnormal fluctuation in the great Dao coming from the southwestern corner of his Dao Realm.
Chen Shi let out a soft exclamation of surprise and focused his mind inward. In the Dao Ruins, above his ten-thousand-li Dao Realm, a pair of giant eyes suddenly appeared, looking down—they were Chen Shi's own eyes!
At the location of the abnormal Dao fluctuation, there was a mountain valley. In the valley, black demonic miasma churned upward, contaminating his Dao Realm.
"So this is what a great Dao anomaly is."
Having traced the source, Chen Shi relaxed and laughed. "I let King Li scare me. I've been seeing ghosts where there are none."
With a slight shift of his thoughts, he connected with the heavenly great Dao across ten thousand li, mobilized his Dao Realm, and actively linked it with this point of anomaly.
His path was different from others.
When others unified with the Dao, they used their own great Dao to merge with the heavenly great Dao, testing whether their own Dao was perfect.
Chen Shi, however, did the reverse—he let the heavenly great Dao merge with his Dao.
This approach had originally been born of necessity. Living in a ruined place like the Western Ox New Continent, if he unified with the heavenly Dao, he would become demonized. Only by letting the heavenly great Dao merge with his own Dao could he purge the demonic energy and restore clarity to heaven and earth.
The path Chen Shi walked could be said to be heretical, belonging to the unorthodox rather than the orthodox tradition.
The level of his Dao Realm depended entirely on his own comprehension. If this continued for long, his own great Dao would inevitably deviate from the external heavenly great Dao, becoming less stable than the orthodox path.
If he encountered an ordinary immortal, it wouldn't matter much. But if he encountered an immortal who had cultivated steadily through orthodox methods, he would easily find himself at a disadvantage.
However, this very approach of his was the most suitable for dealing with the great Dao anomalies in the Dao Ruins!
The strange fluctuations emanating from this point of anomaly had barely made contact with Chen Shi's Dao Realm when they were immediately assimilated by it. The power within the anomaly point continuously leaked out and drained away!
On the command platform, a celestial god hurried over and whispered, "Heavenly King, just now there was an unusual disturbance in the Dao Ruins. An anomaly point in the great Dao has appeared, detected by the Twelve Primordial Spirits."
King Li's heart skipped a beat, and he blurted out in shock, "A great Dao anomaly has appeared again? Where in the Dao Ruins this time?"
"Right at the location where Immortal Chen unified with the Dao."
King Li was startled. He was silent for a moment, then said hoarsely, "I must go to the palace and offer my humble apologies. If I hadn't insisted he change his Dao unification site, he wouldn't have died because of this..."
The celestial god's expression turned strange, and he shook his head. "Heavenly King, Immortal Chen isn't dead yet."
King Li was taken aback. "What do you mean? He unified with the Dao in the Dao Ruins, there was a great Dao anomaly at his unification site, and he's still not dead?"
The celestial god nodded solemnly. "Not dead. Not only is he not dead, he's actually trying to refine and assimilate the great Dao anomaly."
King Li was stunned.
The celestial god continued, "Heavenly King, the Twelve Primordial Spirits monitor the Earth Immortal Realm. They've already reported this matter upward. Many major figures are paying attention to this. I've heard that the Supreme Hall is also monitoring the situation."
"It's escalated all the way to the Supreme Hall."
King Li was shocked. "How many people know about this?"
"That I couldn't say."
The celestial god said, "Among the major figures of the Celestial Court, our Heavenly King Manor is probably the last to learn of it."
King Li let out a muffled snort. On the surface, he was the foremost figure below the Jade Emperor, but in truth, there were many major figures in the Celestial Court he couldn't afford to offend.
From what he knew, his power in the Celestial Court ranked beyond fiftieth. It was entirely possible that he really was the last to learn of this matter.
"At this very moment, at least fifty major figures are watching Chen Shi's every move!"
King Li didn't dare to delay. He immediately shouted, "Someone! Prepare my carriage! I'm going to the Dao Ruins myself! No, never mind—carrying you lot would be too slow. I'll go alone!"
He leaped into the air and flew off, tearing through the void.
After a long flight, he finally arrived at the Dao Ruins and located Chen Shi's Dao unification site. Chen Shi's Dao Realm had already closed up, and to an outside observer, it was shrouded in swirling mist, impossible to see clearly.
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King Li focused his gaze, preparing to activate his Buddhist Sect eye to see through the illusion, when suddenly a voice drifted over, laughing: "Brother Li, come over here! You'll get a better view from this side!"
King Li's heart gave a jolt. He quickly followed the voice and saw that the speaker was the Heavenly Official Great Emperor, one of the Three Official Great Emperors, seated beneath a Huagai canopy in the distance, perched atop a patch of auspicious clouds.
King Li stepped forward to pay his respects. "Li Jing pays respects to the Heavenly Official Great Emperor."
"We are all fellow Daoists—why such formality?"
The Heavenly Official Great Emperor invited him to take a seat and laughed. "Quite a lively gathering today. It seems you've received the news as well. I heard that a cultivator who ascended alongside the Dog Immortal is unifying with the Dao in the Dao Ruins, and he's hit a stroke of incredible luck—encountered a great Dao anomaly! It's drawn a huge crowd to watch!"
He glanced around and whispered, "I saw Fellow Daoists Earth Official and Water Official earlier. Who knows where they've hidden themselves now."
With great interest, he added, "I also sensed the aura of the Thunder Ancestor and Doumu, carrying the scorched smell of thunder and lightning. Look at that cloud vapor over there—showing nine-colored radiant light. The Nine Sovereigns of Divine Thunder must all be here! Oh! And the Nine Heavenly Emperors of the Nine Heavens Life Gods have arrived too!"
King Li's face darkened as he surveyed his surroundings. Indeed, he saw countless beams of radiant light and auspicious vapor, including the auras of the Five Elders of the Five Directions, the Sun God, and the Moon Goddess. He thought to himself, "So I really am the last to know."
These powerful beings were all hidden in the shadows, observing Chen Shi's Dao Realm, deeply curious about his ability to refine a great Dao anomaly.
"The Eastern Prince has come as well!" King Li felt a chill run down his spine.
His scalp crawled, and his voice came out hoarse as he trembled, "Has the Great Venerable been disturbed as well?"
The Heavenly Official Great Emperor shook his head. "I don't know either. The Great Venerable should still be stationed in the Supreme Hall, shouldn't he? Such a minor matter can at most disturb small deities like you and me. How could it possibly disturb him... wait a moment!"
His expression shifted slightly as he stared at a cloud in the distance and muttered, "The Great Venerable couldn't actually have come, could he?"
The two of them steadied themselves.
The Heavenly Official Great Emperor raised his hand and gently waved it. The mist in Chen Shi's Dao Realm dispersed, revealing the scene clearly. "Heavenly King, now you can see."
King Li looked into Chen Shi's Dao Realm and saw that in such a short time, Chen Shi had actually managed the ten-thousand-li Dao Ruins in an orderly fashion. One couldn't help but admire it.
"His cultivation realm may not be high, but his foundation is extremely solid," King Li thought to himself.
The Heavenly Official Great Emperor said with a beaming smile, "Heavenly King, look over there."
Following the direction of his pointing finger, King Li's heart trembled slightly. Indeed, he saw an external Dao spilling out from a mountain valley!
What was called a great Dao anomaly was essentially an external Dao that didn't belong to the immortal path or the divine path. When it suddenly erupted on a massive scale, that was a great Dao anomaly!
Clearly, that mountain valley was the source point of the anomaly!
But for some unknown reason, before this great Dao anomaly had a chance to erupt, it had already been suppressed by Chen Shi's Dao Field. Not only that, he was continuously extracting the power from the anomaly point and refining it!
Others might not understand the terror of a great Dao anomaly, but King Li knew it all too well.
Last year, when an anomaly point erupted, he had led the heavenly soldiers to suppress it. Because his troops had been a step slow in deploying, that anomaly had grown into a full-scale disaster, resulting in the deaths of one hundred thousand heavenly soldiers!
Whenever a great Dao anomaly appeared, the terrifying things gathered outside the Dao Ruins would stir restlessly, trying to break into the anomaly point.
If those things combined with the great Dao anomaly, they would become extraordinarily terrifying—a hundred times more powerful than a great demon—and would cause catastrophic destruction to the current Earth Immortal Realm.
Whenever this happened, as the Grand Marshal of Demon Suppression, he had to lead three hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals to suppress and destroy the anomaly.
The Heavenly Official Great Emperor laughed. "The Heavenly King truly has an eye for talent! This Immortal Chen actually has the ability to refine a great Dao anomaly. No wonder you had him unify with the Dao here. King Li, you do have real skill—you didn't rise to prominence just by relying on your sons!"
King Li's face couldn't quite maintain its composure.
He had, in fact, risen to prominence through his three sons.
The Heavenly Official Great Emperor chuckled. "However, I've heard that Immortal Chen has a powerful patron in the palace. What if something happens to him? How would you answer for that?"
Cold sweat broke out on King Li's forehead.
The Heavenly Official Great Emperor said unhurriedly, "A great Dao anomaly can't be withstood even by a Tai Yi Golden Immortal. How can a mere Celestial Immortal like him possibly handle it? But fortunately, the Heavenly King had keen discernment and selected this man from among thousands of heavenly soldiers. The King has rendered great service. The one in the palace who originally wanted your head is probably quite pleased right now and might even record you a great merit."
More cold sweat beaded on King Li's forehead.
He didn't dare raise his hand to wipe it away, letting the sweat stream down his face.
At the same time, he felt deeply bewildered, thinking to himself, "Strange. How is Chen Shi refining a great Dao anomaly? How does a mere Celestial Immortal have such an ability?"
Chen Shi was utterly focused on refining this great Dao anomaly point, completely unaware that outside, at least fifty-one incredibly powerful deities were watching his Dao Realm.
As he refined the anomalous Dao, his cultivation level rose with the tide, improving many times faster than when he had trained on Qianyang Mountain!
"King Li is a good man. This place is truly a treasure trove."
Chen Shi couldn't help but praise him inwardly. If he had been in the West Heaven Expanse, he definitely wouldn't have made such cultivation progress.
Earlier, while in the Celestial Court, he had been afraid of being discovered as different, so he had used the orthodox method of Dao unification. But in a place like the Dao Ruins, he had no need for such caution.
He silently activated the Primordial Chaos Dao Scripture, using his own Dao techniques to alter the anomaly of the great Dao, assimilating the Dao power of this anomaly point. His cultivation level surged higher and higher.
Once the anomaly point had been suppressed by him, Chen Shi shifted his thoughts slightly, and his Primordial Spirit rose from the top of his head, crossing through the void and directly descending into this Dao Realm.
This Dao Realm was deep within the Dao Ruins, extremely far from him—even King Li's bi fang carriage would need several days to fly there. But a Dao Realm was the Void Realm of an immortal, essentially a higher-level Dao Field, and an immortal could descend into it directly.
This was also the reason why, when Chen Shi entered other immortals' Dao Realms to steal earthly treasures and spiritual roots, those aggrieved owners could return to their Dao Realms so quickly.
But no sooner had his Primordial Spirit entered the Dao Realm than he immediately sensed hundreds of gazes, all falling on him at once!
Chen Shi immediately looked up, but he couldn't see anything. He thought to himself, "Strange. Where are these watching gazes coming from?"