Chapter 498: Master of the Demonic Domain
Black Pot looked at Chen Shi with confusion: "Woof?"
Chen Shi took out the topographic map drawn by Zhong Wuwang and said, "That place is very dangerous, with many demonically mutated creatures, and even members of your own kind. That's why I plan to have our mother come with me..."
Black Pot's eyes lit up: "Woof."
Chen Shi shook his head: "Zhong Er Niu said that place is extremely perilous."
Black Pot lifted its front paw and placed it on his shoulder, then curled its other front leg, muscles bulging out one after another as it laughed: "Woof, woof woof!"
Chen Shi tested: "How has your cultivation progress been lately?"
Black Pot burst into laughter, raised its paw and grabbed, the Heavenly Cycle Fire Domain erupting as the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler whistled through the air, caught firmly in its grip. Black Pot spun the ruler in a flourish, and instantly the ground shook, lightning and thunder raged all around, the sight utterly terrifying.
Chen Shi was convinced by Black Pot and had no choice but to agree to go with it to the underworld's demonic domain.
Soon, the man and the dog arrived in the underworld. Black Pot revealed its true form, stepping on demonic flames as it raced through the Ten Thousand Mountains. Chen Shi stood on its forehead, pointing out the direction according to the topographic map drawn by Zhong Wuwang.
Although Black Pot was still not fully grown, it was now two to three times larger than before, seven li from head to tail and nearly three li tall. Its running speed was extremely fast, and in just two days, they reached the periphery of the demonic domain marked on the topographic map.
Chen Shi looked around, his heart tightening.
The demonic miasma here was indeed extremely dense, causing the creatures in this area to manifest a demonized state. Demonic flowers that were hard to find elsewhere were everywhere here.
Those flowers bloomed quietly, and from their stamens grew beautiful maidens, bent over and stuck in wall crevices, calling out for help.
But the demonized bodies were hidden behind the walls, with mouths wide open like basins, waiting for people to take the bait.
There were also many demonic trees that were quite strange, growing numerous branches that were harder than iron, their branch forms resembling swords and blades.
The towering trees often reached nearly a hundred zhang in height, and it was common to see two demonic trees engaged in battle, their sword-like branches slashing at each other.
They hadn't gone far when they encountered two groups of demonic trees at war, like two armies facing off—soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals—sending limbs flying everywhere, with broken swords and blades strewn about.
Black Pot stopped to watch. Chen Shi stood on its forehead and saw a demonic tree whose roots had been cut off, unable to steady itself as it fell to the ground. Two other demonic trees drove thousands of swords and blades into its body, instantly causing green liquid to flow out as it breathed its last.
"Black Pot, shrink your size. We can't be too conspicuous once we enter the demonic domain," Chen Shi advised upon seeing this.
Black Pot laughed heartily, its laughter rolling like thunder, and its thoughts transmitted to Chen Shi's mind. Chen Shi seemed to hear its words: "Although demons respect the strong, I feel like there might be something stronger than you here..."
Black Pot strode forward confidently, fully radiating its aura, clearly unconcerned by his advice.
The deep demonic miasma here made it feel like a fish in water, as if even breathing alone was constantly increasing its cultivation and strength.
Seeing this, Chen Shi had no choice but to let it be.
"This place has dense demonic miasma, just as Zhong Er Niu said. The Celestial Venerable was severely wounded by Wu Qi, fled here before dying, and his primordial spirit collapsed and disintegrated."
He looked around and thought to himself, "After his primordial spirit decomposed, it formed this demonic domain. But there's something strange..."
The confusion on his face grew thicker: "Why do demonic energy and demonic evil coexist here?"
He sensed that within this demonic domain, both demonic energy and demonic evil existed simultaneously. The demonic evil accounted for three parts, and the demonic energy for seven.
He himself was a grandmaster of the demonic path—otherwise, he couldn't have come up with the method of demonizing true gods—and his attainment in the demonic path was extremely high. The Celestial Venerable's primordial spirit decomposing into demonic energy and demonic evil in a three-to-seven ratio left him very puzzled: "This means either the Celestial Venerable cultivated both evil and demonic paths simultaneously, or he cultivated the demonic path and the source of the demonic evil didn't come from him."
The first guess was manageable, but the second would mean that the Celestial Venerable had nothing to do with the flesh devouring the sun and moon, nor with the heavenly and earthly demonic mutations!
"If it's the second, then many of my previous speculations about the Celestial Venerable will have to be overturned!"
He suppressed his confusion and observed his surroundings, thinking to himself, "My observation isn't thorough enough. After I scout out the dangers here, I'll have Li Tianqing come. With his observational skills, he'll surely be able to make an accurate judgment!"
Black Pot carried him deeper into the demonic domain. The domain's influence was vast, and all kinds of demonic creatures came into view.
These creatures were often transformed from the flowers, plants, trees, and exotic beasts of the Great Shang era, along with some demonized humans, twisted and powerful, quietly following them.
What shocked Chen Shi was that the demonic domain was enormous. For such a vast domain to form, the Celestial Venerable's cultivation in his previous life must have been extraordinary!
"I wonder if the Celestial Venerable in this life has achieved what he did in his previous life? He's already been cultivating for over ten thousand years..."
At that moment, deep roars came from all around, and Black Pot unconsciously stopped, looking around warily.
In the darkness, massive figures could be seen approaching, not from one direction but from all sides!
As they gradually made out the forms of the approaching creatures, they saw they were like giant apes, but with large flowers growing on their backs, along with leaves and branches.
Their bodies were even taller than Black Pot, extremely robust, emitting astonishing demonic miasma.
They stared at Black Pot with hostile eyes.
Black Pot's expression turned grave as it stood upright and roared. A ball of flame erupted from within its body, forming the Heavenly Cycle Fire Domain that circulated through its right arm. By the time the Heavenly Cycle Fire Domain flowed into its claws, the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler materialized.
Seeing this, Chen Shi silently praised, thinking to himself, "The Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler—Black Pot wields it even more skillfully than I do. But then again, I've used its immortal artifact, the Taiyi Demon-Repelling Shuttle, more times than it has."
Chen Shi was still in the Refining Spirit Realm, and his primordial spirit hadn't yet reached the level where it could fully utilize the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler, so he wasn't fond of using this immortal artifact. But with Black Pot's massive true form, it was better suited to wield the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler.
Suddenly, one of the giant apes roared, and the surrounding apes moved in unison, charging at Black Pot.
Black Pot activated the Sixth New Talisman, swung the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler, and sent one giant ape flying. Then, stepping on demonic flames, it flipped into the air and smashed the ruler down on another ape's head with a deafening clang, shattering its skull and spilling its brains!
The moment it landed, Black Pot held the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler behind its back with one hand while forming a hand seal with the other, muttering incantations. Its body shook, and flesh rapidly grew from its neck and sides. In a short moment, two more heads and four more arms sprouted.
It shook the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler, splitting it into three, while its other four arms each grabbed a Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler.
The ruler was pitch-black, a Great Shang immortal artifact that had stood in the underworld for sixteen thousand years, tempered by yin energy into pure yang thunder and fire.
Now, Black Pot's three heads and six arms fully unleashed this treasure's power. It was unmatched with its staff, sending out clusters of pure yang divine thunder and pure yang true fire. As its body spun, one of the giant apes took several hits, its head smashed to a pulp.
Another giant ape hadn't even gotten close when the black iron pillar pierced its chest. The pillar shrank into a black needle, passed through its heart, then suddenly expanded, tearing through the ape's heart!
Black Pot fought fiercely, and in just a short while, it had killed all the giant apes.
Chen Shi had been worried about its strength, but it turned out that Black Pot's cultivation had progressed rapidly during this period, showing signs of cultivating both demonic and immortal paths simultaneously.
It had been training with its mother, the adult Huo Dog. Chen Shi had never deliberately taught it the Sixth New Talisman, but he hadn't avoided it when practicing himself either.
Black Pot, through constant exposure, had naturally learned the various talismans inscribed on the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler and mastered the combat methods of this immortal divine weapon.
The shamanic ritual markings recorded on the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler were among the highest-level shamanic ritual markings of the Great Shang era, belonging to the thunder-fire lineage. They were from the East Mother divine officer system of the Great Shang, the god of the great sun.
Its shamanic ritual markings were second only to those of the Great Shang king, and their power was extremely formidable.
Having won a great victory, Black Pot put away the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler and charged forward.
Chen Shi praised, "Black Pot, is your cultivation strength nearly that of an adult Huo Dog?"
Black Pot looked smug.
Just then, sudden soul-shaking roars came from both sides. Black Pot was startled to see two adult Huo Dogs appear on its left and right, running alongside it.
Black Pot was both surprised and delighted to see its kin, and its spiritual sense surged as it tried to communicate with the two adult Huo Dogs. Suddenly, the two Huo Dogs squeezed in from both sides!
Black Pot immediately stood upright, intending to activate the Heavenly Cycle Fire Domain, but its mind suddenly grew heavy and hazy, unable to gather its magical power!
It leaped up, but just as it jumped, it was heavily crushed between the two adult Huo Dogs, suffering considerable injury.
The two Huo Dogs separated, and before Black Pot could land, a massive tail swept across its face, leaving its dog face bloodied and battered.
Before Black Pot could react, another Huo Dog had bitten its front paw, lifted it up, and slammed it down hard.
Yet another Huo Dog took the opportunity to lower its head and bite at Black Pot, its sharp teeth already at its throat!
At this critical moment, another Huo Dog suddenly charged in and knocked away the one about to bite Black Pot's throat!
That Huo Dog crashed to the ground, rolling and tumbling—massive beasts like mountains, their rolling utterly shocking.
The Huo Dog that charged in stood guard in front of Black Pot—it was its mother.
Seeing that Black Pot and Chen Shi had sneaked out, worried about her son's safety, she had secretly followed. When she saw Black Pot in danger, she rushed forward without hesitation.
The knocked-over Huo Dog stopped rolling and got up. Another Huo Dog walked shoulder to shoulder with it, slowly closing in on Black Pot and its mother.
More roars from other Huo Dogs came from the darkness. Black Pot followed the sound and saw several more Huo Dogs approaching, bodies lowered in threatening stances.
The leading Huo Dog was the most robust, growling continuously as if scolding Black Pot's mother.
Black Pot's mother stood guard in front, refusing to yield. Each time the other Huo Dogs tried to circle around, she blocked them.
"Their target is me." Black Pot was stunned.
Since childhood, its mother had given it away to Chen Yindu. It couldn't have had any conflict with other Huo Dogs, so why did they want to kill it?
The two sides kept growling, as if communicating in some strange language. But Black Pot's mother was at a disadvantage. The other Huo Dogs each unleashed their Ghost and God Domains, suppressing her mind and gradually causing her to lose her ability to resist.
Suddenly, the Huo Dog leader roared, and all the adult Huo Dogs immediately pounced on Black Pot and its mother!
Just as they were about to die, a blazing sun suddenly leaped out from within the thick demonic miasma, illuminating the surroundings, while a bright, clear moon emerged from the demonic miasma as well. Yin and yang energies violently vibrated!
In the next instant, wherever the sun and moon shone, demonic creatures rapidly shed their demonized forms. Demonic trees became normal trees, demonic humans became normal humans, and demonic flowers became normal flowers!
The Huo Dogs were also affected by this strange Dao field. Their demonic mutation reversed, their bodies rapidly shrinking, transforming from Huo Dogs that controlled demonic miasma and flames back into giant hounds!
These Huo Dogs had originally been canine exotic beasts of the Great Shang era, sealed by the Shang dynasty as divine dogs, branded with shamanic ritual markings, granted divine positions to guard the Great Shang court and ancestral temple. Their title was Huo Dog.
Influenced by the demonic domain, they underwent demonic mutation and gradually grew into this region's overlords.
But Chen Shi's Yin-Yang Dao Field could calm demonic energy and demonic evil, suppressing demonic mutation. Hidden in the fur on Black Pot's head, Chen Shi had the advantage of surprise. The moment his Dao field emerged, he succeeded!
The Huo Dogs' bodies changed rapidly, their forms twisting as each roared, struggling to activate their Ghost and God Domains in an attempt to affect Chen Shi's mind.
Black Pot and its mother knew this was a life-or-death moment and desperately resisted their spiritual pressure. In a short time, the Huo Dogs rapidly shrank, revealing their original forms, their momentum completely lost.
The Huo Dog leader, with the highest cultivation, hadn't been completely suppressed by Chen Shi's Yin-Yang Dao Field and immediately tried to escape. Black Pot's mother charged out, catching up in a few steps and engaging it in a desperate fight.
Worried about his mother, Black Pot also rushed forward, raising the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler to join the assault on the Huo Dog leader.
Under the mother and son's joint attack, the Huo Dog leader was repeatedly wounded. Suddenly, Black Pot's mother spotted an opening and bit its throat. Black Pot seized the opportunity and smashed its head with a single blow from its staff, shattering its skull!
Seeing this, Black Pot's mother didn't exert force to crush its throat but slowly released her grip, bowing to Black Pot in submission.
Black Pot was puzzled, but it saw that the other Huo Dogs hadn't fled. Instead, they all knelt before it, showing submission.
Black Pot was confused and scratched its head.
Chen Shi was also greatly perplexed, thinking to himself, "Does killing the leader mean the birth of a new king, and all other Huo Dogs must submit? When Black Pot's mother escaped from the demonic domain back then, what was the reason? And why did the leader want to kill Black Pot the moment it saw him?"
After the Huo Dogs submitted, they became Black Pot's underlings. Seeing this, Chen Shi withdrew his Yin-Yang Dao Field, and the Huo Dogs returned to their demonic forms.
The Huo Dogs were the kings ruling this demonic domain. With Black Pot becoming the king of the Huo Dogs, delving deeper into the domain became much simpler.
Before long, they finally reached the village marked on Zhong Wuwang's map.
Chen Shi left the Huo Dogs outside the village and entered alone. He carefully examined the large pit in the center of the village, then looked up. There was a hole in the sky, and on the other side of the hole was the shattered Great Shang Celestial Court.
A blood-red moon came into view.
Chen Shi withdrew his gaze and opened the door of a nearby villager's house. He walked around the empty home, then went to the second house.
He searched for a while but didn't find what he was looking for, so he moved on to the third house.
He searched every house, but found nothing, frowning.
Not willing to give up, he went outside the village and searched everywhere. Finally, a few li from the village, he found a complete corpse.
This place was at the center of the Celestial Venerable's primordial spirit's disintegration, where the demonic miasma was most concentrated. The dead body hadn't decayed and still looked lifelike.
Even so, Chen Shi didn't let his guard down. First, he used the Demonic Dao Field to smooth out the surrounding demonic miasma and suppress the turbulent demonic path. Then, he used the Yin-Yang Dao Field to stabilize the area, guarding against unforeseen events. Finally, he approached the corpse and pressed a finger against its brow.
"Buzz—"
The bloodline power beneath the corpse's skin was activated, and various shamanic ritual markings emerged from beneath its skin.
"Found it!"
Chen Shi revealed a smile, "The Celestial Venerable's weakness has finally been found!"